Crimson Vision
by Iris Sweetheart
Summary: A dark tale of mystery and death as Shadow's strange power is the key to his past that he has no memory of.
1. Out of the Darkness

_A little warning from the author: As you guessed with this story being mature rated there will be blood and gore, drug and alcohol use, and maybe a little profanity here and there. But for the most of it blood and gore so it's definitely not for the little kiddies._

Shadow, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Maria are © by Sega.

Crimson Vision  
By: Iris Sweetheart

Chapter 1: Out of the Darkness  
I shiver. I feel numb. My breath is cold.

I stand alone in darkness.

When there is heat I feel coldness. When there is darkness I feel succumbed.

I am alone in darkness.

When the death light comes I burn. Like fire eating through my skin. Never ending until it is gone.

I live alone in darkness.

I know no one yet everyone knows me.

* * *

My name is Shadow. I am a hedgehog of no other kind. I stay in the darkness of this small quaint town. Slowly letting the daylight pass by; drinking by the hour. Then night falls and I make my entrance into town. Wearing shades to hide my eyes from those who wander the streets late at night. Wearing a dark trench coat to blend in with the shadows. My red stripes set some pedestrians in an uneasy state as I walk the streets. I never know where I go. My feet take me to where I am 'most needed'. I get the job done and I take to the shadows again.

Each night is unpredictable. I never know if I'll return home with my memory or if I'll awake in that unusual room that always seems to draw me to it. If I return with no memory a gruesome story of death is told the next day. Many deaths have taken place. Each at irregular times to the point where it's unpredictable. All of them revolving around a winged-demon. I care not for the beings of this town, for I am not one of them. I have no time for emotions, for I see no need for them. I only go where I am 'most needed' and then I leave. Never caring about my victims.

I sit in the icy dining area drinking the daylight hours away. Waiting for the last speck of light to vanish. Pour a glass, drink it up, pour a glass, drink it up. The same thing over and over on days where my hunger overpowers me. These alcoholic fluids have no effect on me. Nothing does. I only do this to pass the time. As the last speck of light fades away, I sit and await the late hours of the night to arrive. The grandfather clock chimes consecutively 12 tones. I walk out of the front door and through the rusty gates of my dead domicile that rested at the empty side of town. I allow my feet to take me to where ever I am 'most needed'.

Down the streets of the sleeping town, bars are open and laughter flows out of them.

"Pathetic beings," I say "wasting their lives. Destroying their bodies…becoming 'impure'. Useless for me."

I continue on. Stalking in the shadows, avoiding their electric light that only blinds me without my shades. Upon exiting a dark alley I stop. A small impeccable sensation burns lightly within me. I take a few more steps and it grows. A few more and it grows. Increasing with every step I take as if I was getting closer to hidden treasure. My legs go into a jog, I begin to breathe harder. Then I run. Down the street almost like a mad man. An animal that has sniffed out its prey. Then darkness.

There is a great warmth within my mouth as fluid rushes in. It fills me to my content. My grip on my victim never ceased till I was satisfied with my withdrawal of 'life'. I loosen my grip, slowly moving away. A bitter freezing air is felt on my mouth cooling it off. I breathe hard taking in deep breaths. I touch my lips and gaze down upon my hand. Blood. Scarlet blood. A smile appeared on my face as I gazed down on my victim. A child sleeping soundlessly with two dark, bloody holes in his neck. His 'life' seeped out of them dripping to the pillow on which he slept creating a dark stain. With my duties done here I vanish into the night.

Cleaning my face of the blood, I take to the streets again going wherever my feet take me. I was drawn to two more places and took care of business there. Then as I was walking the streets once more, a being had bumped into me nearly knocking me over.

"Hey, watch where you're going jerk!" the being shouted.

I turned to him, glaring at him from one eye. He was 'impure', drunk if you will. I could tell from the circles around his eyes that he didn't get much sleep. His eyes were red and his clothes wreaked of an awful stench. I turned to him staring at him through my black shades.

"You got a problem with me!?" he shouted.

Yet I was silent. It was the most suitable answer I found for the 'impure' type seeing as how they found it hard to comprehend anything that's going on around them.

"Oh so you think you're smart do ya!? Insulting me as if I was the idiot!"

The alcohol must've gone to his head. He was hearing things. The next thing I knew, the being had drawn out a small dagger of some sort and attempted an attack on me. I swiftly dodged him and kicked him in his back. He stumbled but came back for more. Left and right. Left and right. His attack executions got worse with every strike. Knowing that I've been out for quite a while, I ended this scuffle with a swift upward kick to the being's jaw. He was sent flying into the air and crashed into some garbage can nearby.

"Serves you right." I murmur.

Walking away casually, the being had gotten up and took one last swing at me with his fist. Catching me off guard, he made a direct hit and I hit the concrete hard. As I tried to get up, he kicked me in my back and attacked again and again constantly until I was knocked into a dark alley.

"What a jack-ass." I heard the being say as he left.

I lay in the alley staring up into the dark sky. No stars in sight. I had felt a sudden burn within me growing slowly while I was getting beaten. Now that burning anger had ignited into a destructive uncontrollable fire. I tried to stand but fell on my knees. I began to breathe hard. My muscles tightened. The rage grew out of my control. I felt hotter and hotter. Sweat falling down my face. Then darkness.

What is this? Where am I? Red? Crimson red. That's all I see!! I take to the sky and search for my victim below. There he is; the being that assaulted me. He must suffer!!! My cry fills the air and the being sees me. He runs, I pursue. Landing on top of my victim, he screams and cries out for help. But no one hears his cries on the dark empty street. My talons scar him, blood splatters everywhere. I stomp on him, my weight crushing his ribs. The being is raised into the air and is smashed into the concrete. I knock him into the street and begin kicking him around. Yeah!! How do you like it now 'impure' being!? Not so fun isn't it!? I stop. His body mangled with broken bones and gashes with blood flowing out of every inch of his body. Tiny pieces of flesh and muscle laying in the street; the being barely alive. Then with my bare claws I smash his face and let out a tremendous cry.

No!! What is this!? Cold!! Too cold, almost freezing!! My body stiffens as an icy feeling rushes through me and to my head. Stop!!! Can't take the pain!!! The throbbing pain in my head pounds more and more into my conscious. I give out one last cry and then…darkness.

"_It's dark. I'm awake but my eyes do not open. Why? I must see my surroundings_."

The mysterious dark room. The room full of antique furniture that was covered with tan sheets. Dusty with an odd smell. On the wall was a large covered portrait that I never went near. Nor did I even think about it. I was in that strange room yet again with no recollection of my previous night. My vision was blurry as well as my thoughts. I could not stand up or even hold my balance as I sat up. Everything was a mystery to me. How did I get here? What makes me come here? Why does this happen so much? A few minutes pass and I was up on my feet. My legs feeling wobbly like a new born. My body feeling numb as always. Then I looked down and to my dismay…

"_Not again!!_" I thought "_Every time!! Every damn time!! Why!? WHY!!?_"

Blood covered my hands and my body that had been stripped of the trench coat I usually wore. Leaving only one question left for me to say:

"What would the story be this time?"


	2. My Home and Its Mystery

Crimson Vision

Chapter 2: My Home and Its Mystery  
Its darkness; its emptiness; its mystery.

I stand alone in darkness.

Slowly deteriorating, its past forgotten leaving only fragments behind.

I am alone in darkness.

Day in and day out thoughts provoke me of its mystery. Taunting me, pulling at my conscious. Forcing me to search for answers.

I live alone in darkness.

I know no one yet everyone knows me.

* * *

Again I stand alone in the darkness of my home during the daylight hours. Dust slowly rising from the floor and furniture. Windows boarded up to keep the light out. The wooden floor creaking here and there. And me…standing dead along with my home, but never deteriorating. I've explored the house every now and then. Little by little finding out secrets that have been long forgotten. Secrets that mean nothing to me. Down in the cellar I feel content but the higher I ascend I into the house…the more fearful I grow. The mysterious room that stands alone at the peak of the house, the room I awake in after a forgetful night. It drives me away when I try to go near it. A certain guilt fills me up and I flee back down the steps. Why do I continue to try and get into the room? It calls out for me, that's why.

How many years I've spent in this house, I do not know. I woke up one day and since then lived my life in darkness. Now I sit around and wait. Wait for the daylight hours to leave so I may go where I am 'most needed'. I often wonder about the old antique furniture of the house. Where it came from, who belonged to. During my outings at night if I'm lucky I may get a chance to read an account of the house and its past residents. All the stories are different, but they all end the same way:

"A scream was heard that traveled for miles and when police forces arrive a corpse of a far beyond dead person is found in the upper room of the house. Blood covered the wooden floor and the person's body was so mutilated that they were unrecognizable. For months no one came to identify the person and so the body was buried in the town cemetery. Knowledge of this person residing the old house was not known until their death. Now the house and the surrounding grounds are kept as a reservation in remembrance of a lost soul."

After reading this story over and over again, I now feel that there is a reason that the room calls me. But I fear the room for it taunts me as well. Blaming me for something so horrid that I don't even know what it is. Even after I wake up in the mysterious room with no memory, it begins to shout and scream at me. Blaming me, accusing me, forcing me out…and I wake up down in the cellar where I feel content. But instead of having no memory I remember every painful second of it.

Sometimes when I walk through the house, my home, thoughts fill my head. Strange thoughts of laughter and happiness that only baffle me. When there are children wandering around my home during the daylight their voices trigger more strange thoughts that leave me wondering what is calling out to me. I quickly try to forget them and continue on with my dead life.

The daylight hours are beginning to fade away. I sit in the dining area and wait for the late hours to arrive. Then I leave, new trench coat and shades on. The same surroundings as any other night. Empty streets with laughter coming out of the bars. 'Impure' beings wandering the street drunken and full of rage. And me…walking the streets, stalking in the shadows and finding my victims. But tonight I see something new to this small town. Three new beings I have never seen before out at these late hours. All of them just like me. An orange fox, a pink hegdehog, and a blue hedgehog that looked like my opposite. They were on the other side of the street casually walking and conversing. As we pass, the hedgehog catches me and our eyes meet. Time slows down as we stare at each other. Then I turn into a dark alley and disappear.

From my hiding place in the alley I watch the three walk out of sight.

"Where did they come from?" I asked.

Promptly forgetting the strangers, that sensation overcomes me and I disappear into the night. After leaving the home of another victim I take to the streets again. I do not see the strangers again for the rest of the night and head back home satisfied with this evening's feeding. Back inside my home, I lay on the couch in the main room staring up at the ceiling. I wonder where the strangers could've come from and why were they here. They didn't seem like the type that would be wandering the streets during the late hours. Maybe it was just a coincidence…or maybe the mysterious room had called them here. Whatever the reason was I didn't care. I had my share of blood for the night anyway.

I began to feel weary. My eyes grow heavy. Soon I nod off to sleep on the couch, peacefully and still. Suddenly someone calls out my name.

"Shadow." the voice whispers.

It was the mysterious room once again calling me. It always calls me when I try to rest. Rarely do I ever get any rest because of the room.

"Shadow." the voice calls again.

"I'm here." I answer in return getting up.

"Shadow…come closer."

Tediously I walk towards the steps; the voice whispering as I go. It tells me to come closer and that it needs me. As I make my trip up the stairs, the steps creak. The voice whispers to me getting louder and louder as I head to the top. When I reach the top the voice calls out to me again.

"Shadow…come closer…I need you."

At the top of the stairs it splits into three paths: One on my left, one on my right and a stairwell straight ahead. I look ahead at the stairwell that leads to the door of the mysterious room. Pacing myself, I begin taking baby steps towards the stairway. The voice continues to call for me and I answer it back. Finally I reach the stairs leading up to the mysterious room. Afraid of the voices shouting at me again, I stand frozen at the foot of the stairs. The voice calls out to me again.

"Shadow please come closer…I need you."

"I'm coming." I answer back.

I take one step…nothing happens. I take another step…nothing happens. Then I trudge up the stairs. Getting closer and closer to the door. Suddenly it begins.

"Shadow!! How could you!?" a voice yells at me.

"You murderous monster!! Go away and never return!!!" another shouts at me.

The angry voices slowly fill my head. The pain begins to grow making it worse. I become feeble as the voices continue to shout at me getting louder and louder.

"No!!" I scream. "Go away leave me be!!"

My plea falls on deaf ears. They continue with their accusations and insults. The pain intensifies as I fall to me knees on the stairs.

"Please stop! I did nothing to deserve this! Stop!!"

Then when I can't take the pain anymore it happens. The ear piercing scream fills my head making me limp. I fall back down the stairs screaming along with it. And then…darkness.

I wake up on the cold floor of the cellar. I feel content, rested, the voices out of my head. The pain is gone and I am guiltless. Slowly I get up and look around in the dark cellar. I approach a desk in the room and open up its drawer. A cigarette pack and a lighter are inside. Taking out one cigarette and the lighter, I light the drug and take a puff of it. Blowing out some smoke I feel more relaxed and lean against the wall.

"Mysterious room I fear you." I say out loud. "Yet why do you keep calling me?"


	3. Sonic, My Contradictor

Crimson Vision

Chapter 3: Sonic, My Contradictor  
He is my oppressor, my opposite, my enemy.

I stand alone in darkness.

Hero of the innocent, I detest everything he stands for.

I am alone in darkness.

I loathe that blue hedgehog. That mere copy of me. He tires to kill me but he shall feel my wrath, my power, my darkness.

I live alone in darkness.

I know no one yet everyone knows me.

* * *

The daylight hours have past and I am out on the streets during the late hours once again. A gruesome story of a man's death is floating around the bars tonight. That winged beast must've attacked again. But dispite his death, beings still walk the streets late at night not caring about what may happen to them. I still continue to walk amongst the shadows searching for victims to feed on. I haven't seen those three strangers at all tonight. Things must be getting back to normal…or so I thought.

There's an explosion at one end of town and a fire breaks out. Such things like this rarely happen and often I don't bother with them. But this time something told me to go and investigate. Even though the explosion happened at the other end of town my shoes were able to get me there quicker. Practically gliding on air I raced to where the fire was. As I neared the bright light from the fire, I made sure my shades covered my eyes. Then went into an alley nearby to watch. Fire trucks had already arrived and the beings were trying to put out the fire. It seemed like some sort of development home to many beings was the victim to the blaze.

There were many beings that were outside, an endless number to my eyes. I could easily lure anyone of these 'pure' beings into my grasp and feed off of them. Strangely that sensation did not occur within me. Nothing drove me to lure any one of them. I felt normal as usual. Definitely a strange night indeed. Then I, and many others in the area, heard a scream come from the top of the building. A small child was trap and was crying out for help. I stayed in the alley watching as the beings went into panic for the small child.

"_There's nothing they can do for her_." I thought. "_She's as good as dead with all of that fire near her._"

I would've left but something else had caught my eye. A figure was making its way across the rooftops of neighboring buildings. It moved with such stealth and speed and then jumped onto the building with the child on it. Then the figure took a daring leap off of the building and landed in a parachute of some kind the fire fighting beings had pulled out. The child was safe and ran back to its mother. As for the figure, once out of the parachute I recognized it quickly. It was that blue hedgehog that I saw on my last outing. He intrigued me with his abilities and made me wonder if he's the reason why my nights have changed. Many beings surrounded him giving him praises and many thanks for his heroic deed.

"Publicity stunt." I scoffed.

Soon he emerged from the crowd and was approached by who I assumed to be his friends; the orange fox and pink hedgehog. Suddenly that sensation appeared within me as I watched the three converse. From the alley I listened closely on their conversation.

"Sonic that was great!" the fox exclaimed.

"Yeah well it was all in a days work Tails." the blue hedgehog replied.

"That explosion was scary. Especially since it was so close by." the pink hedgehog spoke.

"That was pretty scary. Something must've busted in one of the apartments. At least no one was killed hopefully." the blue one said. "Amy, Tails you two better head on back to the shelter. I'll stick around to see if the fire fighters need any more help."

With that said the departed. The fox named Tails and the girl named Amy leaving the one called Sonic behind. By then I realized that my senses were drawn towards Amy so I followed her and fox taking to the shadows once again. I followed them until they were in a dark part of the streets and no one was around.

"This place is creepy at night." I hear Amy say.

"The shelter's around the corner so don't worry Amy." Tails condoles the hedgehog.

I decided to go ahead of the two and hide in an alley they were approaching. As they pass, I lure Amy into the alley.

"Amy…" I whisper.

She stops and looks.

"Amy…" I whisper again.

"Who's there?" she calls out.

"Who are you talking to?" I hear Tails ask.

"Someone just called my name." she replies.

She walks in and slowly makes her way toward the shadows and towards me.

"Amy come one. We better get back to the shelter." Tails says appearing in the opening.

Amy ignores him; my plan is working. She gets closer and closer to me and then she finally steps into the shadows. I make my move and grab her. Amy screams and I see Tails rush towards me. Too bad for him he doesn't see me and I attack the boy with a kick that sends him flying out of the alley. He tumbles across the street and comes to a stop motionless. He then struggles to get up but by then I have made my escape with Amy in my arms.

"Tails!! Help!" Amy shouts.

I speed off into the night to find a place where I may withdraw 'life' from my victim. Soon I arrived in a dark abandoned lot surrounded by some run down buildings. I threw Amy to the ground and she looked up at me in horror. I saw the fear in her eyes paralyzing her as I stared down upon her. Her lip trembled and I prepared to take action. My fangs slowly slipped out of my mouth into sight and Amy crawled back whimpering.

"Please don't hurt me." she said.

"I won't." I replied.

I a flash I picked Amy up and slammed her against the wall. With her dazed from the impact, I opened my mouth hissing as I was about to feed off of her…but a familiar voice stopped me.

"Drop her you creep!"

I looked over my shoulder to see Sonic with Tails standing next to him. The fox suffered from a nosebleed from my attack on him.

"Didn't you hear me? I said drop her!" Sonic shouted once again.

I held out the girl by her neck and dropped her to the ground. She breathed hard as she sat up holding onto her neck. Sonic gritted his teeth growling.

"Come and get me." I say to him.

Sonic charged at me at full speed but I moved out of the way at the last second and slammed my fist into his stomach. He's knocked back and stops curled up trying to catch his breath. Tails looks down at Sonic and then back at me. I walk towards the fox slowly. Fear is in his young eyes as he steps back not knowing what to do. As I passed Sonic, I sped up my pace towards Tails but he flies up into the air and dives towards me. I stop and look up at the kamikaze fox speeding towards me. Then as he prepared to swing at me I jump up and punched him. He fell to the ground blood seeping out of his mouth. I picked him up by his neck and tightened my grip. He becomes short of breath and begins to turn blue.

"Maybe it's you I should start on first." I say to Tails.

Suddenly something slammed into my back causing me to drop Tails and fall to my knees. I look over my shoulder to see Amy standing holding a hammer.

"Leave him alone!" she yells at me.

I stand up and she stepped back but still held her ground. Amy then swung her hammer at me again but I stopped it with one hand and snatched it from her. Throwing the hammer aside I took Amy by her wrist and she called out to Sonic. I looked over at the blue hedgehog to see that he has gotten up again. Without saying anything he charged at me and I pulled Amy close and jumped out of Sonic's way. But he circles back and I release Amy and run towards Sonic. When we met, I overpowered Sonic and slammed him against the wall.

"You're getting on my nerves you know." I warned him.

"I guess you never heard of me." Sonic managed to say.

"And I never will hear of you again once I'm done."

I tore Sonic away from the wall and threw him out into the opening. He stumbled but kept his footing. That's when I attacked. Punch after punch I continuously attack Sonic. My great speed kept him from retaliating and blood began to seep from cuts on his face. With one final hit Sonic flew into the concrete wall and slumped to the ground. I was satisfied until Sonic moved. He struggled to get up and glared at me with his bloody face. I prepared to attack again but Tails and Amy had ganged up on me. Amy attacked with her hammed while Tails kicked me in the face. Next thing I knew I was on my back looking up into the dark sky. My anger was growing slowly and I got up snarling a bit.

Before I could do anything Sonic slammed into me from behind. His sudden strength sent me slamming face first into the wall opposite of Sonic. My body created a dent in the concrete as pain surged through my face. I curled up on the ground and slowly put my hand on my face. My shades had fallen off and opening my eyes I saw blood. Suddenly my anger grew into rage that became out of control. A burning feeling grew inside of me. Sweat falling down my face as my muscles tightened and I became short of breath. I grasped at my chest and then…darkness.

Hmm? Everything's…blood red. I stand up and see Sonic and Amy and a Tails staring at me in fright.

"Dammit! What just happened!?" Sonic shouted his voice sounding distorted.

Amy just screamed getting my attention. There she is. My prey. I walked towards her but something hit me. I looked to my left to see Tails on the ground rubbing his fist. The fox. I must kill him. I approached Tails looming over him. He quivered almost crying. Sonic was advancing behind me and with one swing of my tail I knocked the hedgehog away from me. Turning back to Tails I raised my claw. SLASH! The boy was crying out in pain. I had taken off his right ear and blood flowed out of his head and onto the ground. There was another cut in his stomach and blood nearly covered his whole body.

I turned back to Amy and approached her menacingly. She won't run away. Not after what I did to Tails. Amy was scooped up into my claw and I prepared to take flight. But Sonic stopped me again.

"Hey!" I heard him shout.

My eyes found Sonic racing towards me. Anger was shown in every movement of his body. Just as he neared me, I simply smacked the hedgehog away. He slammed into the wall and I approached him. Holding Sonic up with one claw I, look into his eyes and utter one word with my darkened voice.

"Die."

The faint sound of sirens is heard. Hundreds of police car screech around the corner and come to a stop in front of the empty lot. Their lights fill the darkened area blinding me. Still holding Amy I shield myself from the flashing lights. Suddenly a freezing cold rush fills me. What's this numbing pain!? It just keeps growing!! Make it stop!! The pain grows faster and faster; then I fall on my knees and cry out tremendously and collapse into darkness.

My eyes open up. The mysterious room again. I sit up, my vision a blur, my head hurting. I look down at my hands and there's only blood on my right hand. I stand up and look around the room. Suddenly I hear a voice.

"Shadow…" it whispered.

Remembering the angry voices, I hurried out of the room and down the stairs. When I reach the stairs leading to the first floor someone is there on the floor. Amy. Unconscious with blood on her face and covered by my trench coat.


	4. The Adversary & the Comforter

Crimson Vision

Chapter 4: The Adversary & the Comforter  
He'll meddle, he'll anger me, yet she will get closer.

I stand alone in darkness.

He'll push hard and I shall retaliate with my wrath but she will be compassionate.

I am alone in darkness.

My rage will be unstoppable as he cries to the heavens when I consume his life but she will look into my heart.

I live alone in darkness.

I know no one yet everyone knows me.

* * *

Amy spent most of the daylight hours resting in one of the many rooms upstairs. I had cleaned the blood off of her face caused by a cut yet I didn't feed off of her. Sitting alone in the dining room, I had already gone through two bottles of alcohol drinks wondering what would happen next.

"Sonic is tougher than I thought. But I doubt he'll ever find me here. But then there's Amy. There's something about her that put me at unease." I thought.

My thoughts wandered off as I continued to drink the hours away. The mysterious room wheedled its way into my mind. Its soft voice that would lure me to it. The angry voices that would drive me away. Why would it want me to go in when at the same time drive me away? Is there something inside for me to discover? Answers that I may need to know? But what about Amy? Is there a reason I didn't feed off of her? Perhaps she is the key that'll open up the doorway to the mysterious room. Perhaps…

Wooden boards above me creaked. Soft footsteps were walking towards the stairway. I sat and listened to them as they slowly came down the stairs. Then a timid voice called out.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

Amy was awake but I kept my place and continued to drink. Her footsteps were getting closer to the dining room. Then she appeared in the doorway and let out a small and short scream.

"It-it's you." she said pointing at me.

I looked up at the pink hedgehog. There wasn't much fear in her eyes as she stared at me. For the most of it, she was shocked and frozen probably just from seeing me. I noticed her bandage around her head was getting a bit soiled from the blood. Sighing, I averting my attention away from her and continued to drink.

There was dead silence between the two of us. The ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway was heard. Suddenly it chimed. Three consecutive tones. Amy jumped with a shriek; I continued to drink. Then the last tone died away just as I finished another glass of the alcoholic drink.

"That bandage around your head needs to be changed." I informed Amy.

She spun around with a shocked look staring at me.

"A-are you a vampire?" she asked.

"Yes but you still need some fresh bandages." I answered pouring another glass of alcohol.

Amy felt around the top of her head at the soiled bandages and then looked at her hands. I assumed she had some blood on them from her facial expression.

"Must've been from last night." she spoke. "Why did you change into that huge monster?"

I froze and looked Amy dead in the eye. She stepped back quivering.

"I'm sorry if I said something wrong." she apologized quickly.

"I have no idea of what you're talking about." I respond.

Leaving my drink, silently I got up and passed Amy exiting the dining room. I heard her follow me out into the living room where I sat on the couch. She stood at the doorway just staring at me but I ignored her. I sensed some tension in her as though she wanted to ask me something. But instead she sat down in a chair to the left of the couch. Dust rose from the old piece of furniture and the girl fanned it away coughing a bit. Silence filled the room again; the ticking of the clock seemed to echo.

"If you're a vampire, how come you're not asleep?" Amy blurted out.

"I don't get much sleep nowadays."

"How come?"

I glanced at her and then stood up and begin to exit out of the main room. At the doorway I stopped and looked over my shoulder at Amy.

"Don't ask me anymore questions."

Then I left and went down into the cellar. Time had passed and the late hours had come. It was time for me to take my leave. But as I was leaving I noticed two things that were different: Amy was nowhere to be found and she was outside…where Sonic was waiting for me. As I closed the door to my house I stopped at the top of the porch steps.

"So you found my domicile. I knew you wouldn't give up. Not after that fight we had." I spoke.

"Actually it wasn't the fight that ticked me off." Sonic said while I raised and eyebrow. "It was when you almost killed Tails and the fact that there are so many innocent people here getting weak because of you. That's when I had to put my foot down."

I understood what he meant about the weak beings in town. My draining of their 'life' must've left them weak afterwards. But me almost killing Tails? He's obviously lying.

"Listen Sonic I don't know what you're talking about with me almost killing Tails but what I do to these beings is only for my survival. It's a tough world out there." I casually answered.

"Understandable. But Tails' situation won't go unnoticed."

He wanted a rematch; I could see the vengeance in his eyes. I took off my shades and placed them into my pocket.

"This time I'll make sure of it that you die." I warned him.

In reply the hedgehog revved up some sort of spindash and shot out towards me. I dodged and made my way out into the yard. Sonic charged at me yelling in anger. I blocked his punch with one hand and threw him to the side.

"You can never defeat me." I said. "My immense power will crush you."

Sonic lunged at me tackling me to the ground. I underestimate him. He had more power than the eye could see as he choked me. I struggled to get him loose but Sonic's anger fought back with more force. I punched him off of me to recover some the air I had lost. Sonic had a cut on his face and he tended to his injury. My rage grew as I got up along with Sonic. I attacked quickly beating my oppressor brutally with each hit. More bruised appeared on his face and from the way he kept his balance I could tell that Sonic was losing his concentration.

Another hit from me and Sonic was leaning against a dead tree. Seizing the hedgehog by his neck I held the enemy above me; my hand grasping hard against his neck. His breaths became short as his eyes rolled back into his head. Just as Sonic was about to expire Amy intervened.

"Shadow drop him!" her small voice shouted.

I looked over to my right and the pink hedgehog approached me furiously.

"Drop him now! He's not worth it!" Amy yelled.

I released Sonic and he dropped to the ground motionless. Amy quickly went to his aid in reviving him.

"Sonic please wake up." she said shaking him.

The hedgehog stirred, slowly opening his eyes. I was the first he saw and he stood up immediately preparing to attack. But Amy blocked him.

"No Sonic. Just leave him alone." she pleaded.

Sonic continued to glare at me. Waiting for my next move.

"Sonic, it's not worth risking your life over a senseless fight." Amy told him.

She was right. Why would I want to fight this hedgehog? I can break him in two if I wanted and what difference would it make? I'd only be wasting my time.

"Amy has a point Sonic. I have no time for you." I said leaving them.

I walked over to the side of the house and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. I took a puff and blew out smoke along with some of my anger. Feeling relieved I looked over at the two hedgehogs as they were leaving. Amy, supporting Sonic on her shoulder, glanced over at me. It was a few seconds before we tore our eyes away from each other. Then they disappeared out of the front gates. I began to walk back to the house, not in the mood for my nightly outing.

"There goes my night." I uttered before entering my home.

Hours pass and the daylight was beginning to wake. I was lying on the couch silently in the main room with thoughts rushing about in my head. The shrilling angry voices rang in the back of my head from my previous attempt to reach the mysterious room. The strangest mystery of all for me. Why would the room call out to me only to drive me away? Even if I traced back to times of when bizarre happenings took place in my life, none of them seemed to lead up to the mysterious room. And the voice that would call out to me; it was soft and gentle as if it was a young girl. The soothing voice almost seemed comforting to me. Perhaps that is why I fall victim to its trap of hell-bound tortures. Then without a warning the voice spoke to me.

"Shadow…please come." it spoke softly.

I tried to resist it by turning away but it pulled at me even more.

"Shadow…why…why do you ignore me?"

It was trying to shatter my confidence, my strength. Nevertheless I was determined to keep my distance from the cursed room. The voice continued to call out my name; it's soft voice nearly begging for me to come. In return I tried to put my mind on other things that would hopefully make the voice go away. It still summoned me.

"Shadow…please…don't leave me here." its soft tone sobbed.

I was hyperventilating. My pupils shrunk and slowly I was losing my sanity. I couldn't take the voice's helpless cry for help. I felt the strange need to rush up to the room to aid the voice. But I also knew that I would suffer from the hateful remarks of the enraged voices. It was now or never. Either I'd allow the voice to break me or I'd take another chance to reach the dreadful room. I gave myself three seconds to make the decision then I would be on my own from there on. Three…two…one…

I had reached the steps that lead up to the mysterious room. As I peered up the dark cold stairwell, I sensed and eerie presence coming from the room. This strange feeling, in addition to the soft voice, enticed me to venture up into the trap. Being the zombie I had become, I took the first step into the stairwell. The voice called out for me once more.

"Shadow… please come closer."

"I'm coming." I responded.

Mid-way up the stairs a faint angry voice stirred my senses. I turned looking behind me. No one was there. I remained still to hear if anyone had entered. Silence. Turning back to face forward, I resumed my journey up the stairs. Soon the angry voices became more abundant and louder with each step I took.

"It's starting." I thought.

I built up confidence bracing myself for the punishments of the voices. More and more were making themselves heard. They grew louder and louder; I still held my ground. Soon each step was becoming difficult to make. Along with the vulgar insults and bashing of the voices, I heard the sound of an angry mob booing and hissing at me. Fear was pushing its way into my head wanting me to quit. My journey up these steps had never gotten this worse. Just as expected, the scream came. Its ear-piercing sound made my muscles numb making me immobile as I kneeled on the stairs. Horrible pain was in my head as the mob grew louder and closer. The fear was growing more and more. But refused to give up; I wanted to go into that room.

Slowly I forced my hand to grab onto the rail and pulled myself up. Suddenly a hush falls upon the stairwell. The screaming had stopped, the voices died away, and mob was gone. I was baffled but immediately was reminded of the room. Only five steps away from me. I took each step carefully just incase the angry voices returned. Finally I reached the top for the first time in ages. The only thing that stood between the room and I was a mere door. I grabbed onto the doorknob, but as soon as I made contact a sudden rush of heat flowed through my body. I was burning from head to toe. I felt my skin scorch severely as if someone had set me on fire. I yelled in agony and pain and released the doorknob but it was no use. I still burned and my body became immobile once again sending me back down the flight of stairs and into darkness.

There was still a slight pain in my head and it was dark.

"_How can it still be dark when I'm fully conscious?_"

I realized, like an idiot, that my eyes were closed. My body had cooled and there was some sort of cold moisture being placed on my head. I slowly opened my eyes and there she was. Amy was looming over me with her soft eyes. A small scar could be seen off to the side on her forehead from her previous injury; and there was a washcloth was on my head.

"You're finally awake." she said with a smile.

I tired to sit up but a sudden pain shattered inside my head sending me back down.

"Take it easy." Amy spoke. "You need rest after that nasty fall down the stairs."

I looked up at her and then closed my eyes. I remembered being burned and falling down the stairs. I must've hit my head or something on the way down. I opened up my eyes and Amy was still there looking down at me. Here eyes held some sort of curiosity in them as if she was looking for answers. Speaking of answers, why did she come here?


	5. Rose

Crimson Vision

Chapter 5: Rose  
Her innocence, her compassion, her curiosity.

I stand alone in darkness.

Her friends fear me and hate me but she sees deep within me.

I am alone in darkness.

Together my past will be uncovered and I will protect her as we journey down the dangerous path.

I live alone in darkness.

I know no one yet everyone knows me.

* * *

I continued to rest for the remainder of the daylight hours with Amy nursing me back to health.

"Why did you come here?" I asked her as she soaked the washcloth.

Amy glanced over at me almost as if she was surprised to even hear me speak.

"Well I…"

She was at a lost for words; either embarrassed or afraid of what she was going to say. I turned my head away and closed my eyes. I must be wasting my time asking her such a foolish question.

"Sonic didn't want me to come here." she finally explained. "But I couldn't help but think about you."

She was silent for a few seconds but I urged her to continue.

"Maybe it's me but when me and Sonic asked you about why you turned into that monster, it was like it never happened for you." she looked into my eyes. "I guess that's why I came here. To see if you would've remembered by now."

I remember them asking me the question but still had no idea of what they were going on about. Why would I turn into a monster? In fact how can I possibly turn into a monster? I let it slip out of my head.

"There's more to your visit here isn't there?" I interrogated her.

She looked at me with surprise again. I'd hit the spot.

"Well yes. There's so much I want to ask you but I'm afraid I'll just invade in on your privacy." she admitted.

I looked away again and scoffed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Amy frown. She must've thought she annoyed me a bit. Truth of the matter was that she did, but I do appreciate her tending to me. Sometimes I feel terrible after my nightmare trips up to the mysterious room. I don't know why but I felt the strange urge to sympathize Amy while she was here.

"If you want you can ask me any question you like while you're here." I informed her.

I saw her smile with some relief in her eyes.

"Thank you." she expressed softly and placed the cold cloth on my head.

After that I fell asleep. For the first time in what seemed like ages I slept peacefully. But the feeling of not existing consciously was new to me and the feeling of being in a strange place was as well. When I woke up Amy explained to me that I was 'dreaming'. She told me it's when beings think in their sleep of places better suited for them or places of adventure or peace. My dream was neither one. It was dark and grim and confused me as nothing happened.

I was standing alone in a lifeless field next to a dark forest. Then it appeared. Its red eyes glowing from the shadows of the forest staring into mine. They seemed to say 'pain'. Amy was just as confused as I was and suggested that it may have been a sign of some sort. I sighed and lay on the couch for none of this was making any sense to me. Hours later as night began to fall I did something that even surprised me. I stayed at home. It's not that I didn't want to go out it's just that with Sonic pestering me, where could I go and not be harassed? The fact that Amy was at my place also was a factor. What if Sonic was waiting for me and saw Amy exit out of the house with me? Then things would've taken a turn for the worse.

I sat in the dining room drinking the hours away. Soon Amy, who just stood at the doorway staring at me, accompanied me. I didn't make any eye contact with her but I could tell by her movements that she was intrigued by me. I would often find myself being stalked by her whenever I walked around. It didn't bother me much but at times I did need to get away from her. There was also something that she wanted to know yet was too afraid to ask. I didn't care at the time. I was too relaxed to worry about anything. Amy then carefully walked over to the seat opposite of me and sat down. I glanced up at her and then back at my glass taking another sip. Amy fiddled her fingers nervously so I decided to break the silence.

"Since I'm not doing anything this night you can ask me whatever's on your mind. I can tell you've been thinking a lot lately." I said calmly.

Amy let out a short gasp. I must've caught her off guard but she didn't hesitate in answering.

"Oh, thank you." she replied. "I am a bit curious about you and I just wanted to know if you ever get lonely being here by yourself all the time?"

I took another sip and answered.

"I don't understand these 'feelings' you beings have. Loneliness, love, happiness. They mean nothing to me. I'm fine being by myself since I'm shunned from the outside world."

"But don't you wish that you could see what it's like outside during the day? Being in darkness forever must not be what you want."

"I stay in darkness for my survival. The daylight will burn me severely even with a simple touch. But even if I could go out into the daylight what would there be for me? Everything will be the same I assume, nothing dramatic about that. The darkness I dwell in will always be my only friend."

It was a cold answer but it was the truth. I never understood why these beings rely on the daylight as if it was essential to their life. They can survive in darkness with their own light they make with the electricity they created. But then there will always be that someone who will think different than the rest…and think outside of the lines. Amy continued on with her questionnaire.

"It must be terrible to be alone like this in such a cold place. No friends, no family. All shut out from the world." she pitied me.

There was an uneasy silence between the two of us. I looked up at Amy who had an unsure look on her face.

"You know it's better to let some things out than to hide them. They can often destroy you." I warned her.

She nodded in response.

"I know this may get a bit personal but…I just wanted to know." Amy began. "Is there something going on with you? When I came here and went upstairs I saw you on the floor in front of the stairwell that lead up to a room. You were burned badly and smoke was rising from your body. What happened?"

I froze. Amy did cross the line with that question. I knew she was going to ask about the room since she did in the past. I wanted to avoid the question but there was something inside of me telling me that she should know. She should know about me and the mysterious room. I knew it couldn't be hidden forever or else the room would be my death. I finished up the last of my drink and set the glass aside. Then I told Amy the tale of me and the mysterious room.

"For as long as I can remember that room and I have been battling a very strange war. It calls to me as if its in pain; whispering my name with a luring soft voice. There were times when I tried to ignore it pushing it out of my head with other thoughts. But it fought back with more pain enticing me to its door. I gave in so many times and when I was able to avoid it, I would often find myself going nearly insane. That's probably when I turned to drugs for some relief. But it got worse from there on. Day in and day out the mysterious room called me more frequently. Every time I would go further up the steps…and every time I would get injured more and more. I'm not sure if I want to live now that I've been to hell and back with that room. Now that Sonic is here, things are getting worse."

I stopped to take in a few breaths when I realized how hard I was breathing. Amy took this opportunity to speak to me.

"I feel as if this is all my fault." she said softly. "But what do you mean when you say the room calls out to you?"

"It whispers my name." I replied. "It begs for me to come up and eventually I give in. The voice is so soft and innocent yet it means to do harm. But after I've suffered, the idea that there is something in the room for me comes up and that may be another reason why I keep going up there."

"Maybe there _is _something up there for you Shadow." Amy said. I looked at her. "What if there's something that is essential to your in that room? Something that you need but you don't have now? That could be what's calling you up there."

My past. I've been here for as long as I can remember but my past is a blank. Perhaps there is more to this than what I see.

"I have no past." I say to her.

"Then that could be your answer. Whatever drives you away from the room could be something inside of you that feels guilty." Amy explained.

Guilty? I do feel guilty when the angry voices yell and curse at me. They blame me for something that I don't even know about.

"There are voices that yell at me when I go up there. They find me guilty of something I don't know about and they weaken my spirit; trying to break me as to admit it when I don't even know what I did. The only history I know of this house is some being who was killed in the mysterious room." I noticed Amy was interested in what I had told her. There would be much for her to say.

"Maybe it's a ghost." she said.

Amy had to be kidding. Only foolish beings would believe in false sightings of apparitions and such. But I decided to hear her out.

"There are lost of possibilities Shadow and you said you have no past. Maybe that's the answer to all of your problems."

Amy was onto something there. The death of that being wasn't just a coincidence; there must be a connection between it and me. Finding out the truth wasn't going to be easy. I needed an ally of some sort; someone I could trust. In the end, there was only one being I could trust.

"Amy, I've lived with this problem long enough. I think it's time I did something about it. I only ask of you to help me in finding out about my past…you're the only one I can trust." I was sincere with every word I spoke.

Amy was taken aback by this but a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Shadow even though I don't trust you too much, as a friend I'll do anything to help you." she replied.

We sealed the deal with a handshake and thus began our journey.


	6. The Shadow Serpent

Crimson Vision  
  
Chapter 6: The Shadow Serpent  
  
Stealth, silence, magic.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
It came from nowhere and has a dark purpose.  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
Is this an ally of Sonic's? Its powers may surpass mine; but it shall not stand between Amy and me.  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It's been a day since my alliance with Amy. Things are getting grimmer by the minute. I've come in early from my nightly outing because of the police force that is on alert. Seems as though something big stirred them up. Less 'life' for me tonight. I've avoided Sonic by all means just so no more trouble would come up. And Amy has stopped by just to keep me company during the daylight hours. She tells me that Tails isn't doing well in the hospital. He's lost too much blood in some fight that happened a few nights back. At least I wasn't involved in it. Amy has also told me that Sonic is more enraged at me than before. I'm guessing it's because Amy has been disappearing during the day for an unusual amount of time.  
  
I now stood in an empty room at the south end of the house. It was just as dark and cold as it was outside the windows and dirty with dust as well. I rarely came in here since there was nothing much but windows that opened up into the outside world. I was in deep thought about what Amy and I would have to go through in order to uncover my past. Trying to get to the mysterious room was out of the question so we decided to start off with the town graveyard.  
  
CRASH! A window had shattered in the room I was in. I turned to where it came from and I could make out through the darkness a broken window. The hole was fairly small and a breeze came in making it colder. I slowly walked towards the window but stopped as soon as I heard a slithering noise. I my eyes darted looking around the floor even though I was blind as a bat. Suddenly a pair of green eyes shone through the dark catching my attention. We glared at each other, the green figures and I, then it moved towards me flowingly as if on air.  
  
It was some sort of serpent and I cautiously stepped back just in case it attacked.  
  
"Die Shadow…" it hissed.  
  
A talking serpent!? This indeed was a warning sign of impending danger to come. In a flash the serpent lunged out for me but I swiftly dodged its fangs and stepped on its neck. It was powerless and I added pressure to its neck. The creature hissed and flailed about and suddenly sank into the dark floor as if it was quicksand. I lifted my foot and searched the surrounding area for the creature. It had disappeared. Definitely not a good sign.  
  
As the morning came the daylight began its progress and I rested for a couple of hours. As night began fall again Amy and I were preparing to head out to the graveyard. She had made up some story to Sonic saying that she had made a new friend and was going to stay overnight at their place. Heh. Ironic considering I'm her new friend and she is staying out with me for most of the night. We made our last preparations just as the sky grew dark and the daylight disappeared. I wearing my usual trench coat and shades and Amy wearing an all black outfit to match me. We wanted to make sure no one saw us wandering through town to the graveyard. The last speck of light disappeared and we set forth towards the graveyard.  
  
We kept to the alleys and shadows of the street avoiding any place containing light. Amy trailed close behind me as I guided us. Minutes flew by as we stealthily moved through the small town. There were many police cars patrolling making the trip harder for us. Just as we were in viewing distance of the graveyard a few police cars were in out path. There was no other place to go that was shadowed so we had no choice.  
  
"We've come too far to quit Shadow." Amy said.  
  
I nodded in agreement and observed the three cars from the alley we were in. Their headlights glaring down the empty street made it impossible to cross without being detected. Then I look up at the rooftops where there was no light at all. I'd be taking a chance at this but it was our only hope left.  
  
"Grab onto me and try not to scream." I warned Amy grabbing her. "We're gonna try the rooftops so hold on."  
  
Amy wrapped her arms around my neck and in a single bound I bounced off the walls of the small alley and made it to the rooftops. I couldn't stop now that I was here; Sonic could be on the rooftops as well. Just as I landed I dashed off to the next rooftop and onto the next passing the police cars quietly and quickly. As the final rooftop approached us I leapt off of the rooftop and landed on the dark sidewalk below releasing Amy. She seemed calm after all of that and explained that she and Sonic traveled a lot.  
  
Across the street from us was a clear shot the graveyard. No cars, not a being in sight so the two of us shot across the street and over the tall brick wall surrounding the graveyard; I assisting Amy of course. On the other side there seemed to be and endless field of tombstones ahead of us. The place held it's usual somber and morbid appearance with a few trees and shrubbery here and there for some sort of accent. With Amy now leading us we walked through the dead field with crickets singing their songs of sorrow and the moon half hidden by some clouds overhead; a very graveyard- like scene.  
  
The tombstones we passed were very different in shape and sizes with inscriptions of phrases or sayings or jus the familiar R.I.P. Amy and I descended down a small hill where a small tombstone surrounded by bouquets of flowers was in sight. As we approached the tombstone in large printed letters were the words "R.I.P. UKNOWN." I assumed the grave belonged to the being murdered in the mysterious room.  
  
"Here we are. Do you feel any different?" Amy asked me.  
  
I looked at her and then the grave. I felt nothing but the bitter cold air brush against my fur.  
  
"Nothing." I replied. "What was the point of our trip here anyway?"  
  
"I figured that if you felt strange whenever you went near that upper room you would probably have strange feelings when around the grave of that person who died." Amy explained. "Guess we wasted our time coming out here."  
  
I couldn't agree anymore. Although a fairly decent theory it seemed slightly off from the start. We began to backtrack to where we entered the graveyard when suddenly a hissing noise was heard. Amy spun around letting out a small squeak I, on the other hand, knew who that was. Amy screamed and took cover behind me just as I turned around to see that serpent again with its green eyes glowing and glaring at me.  
  
"Shadow… you must die!" It hissed at me again.  
  
"You have got to be kidding. I can crush you with my foot you diminutive creature." I replied with a smirk, my fangs showing.  
  
The serpent melted down into a black blob that grew at an alarming rate. When it stopped the blob was twice my size and slowly shift shaped back into a giant green and black cobra. Its eyes were now a dark emerald green and it hissed at Amy and me loudly.  
  
"Go and find cover, now!" I shouted to Amy who wasted no time in finding a safe place to hide.  
  
The cobra lunged at me but I dodged its fangs ran to its backside. But the serpent spun around and attacked again. It continuously launched its body at me with mouth wide open and all I could do was run from the monster. It was quick in attacking, almost as fast as I and that was my disadvantage. Suddenly one of its fangs skinned my fur and dark red blood seeped out. Withstanding the pain I continued to dodge the snakes attacks.  
  
I stopped in an opening and the cobra slithered towards me and attacked. But I jumped I high into the air and landed on its back. With a sharp rock I had found I stabbed the cobra in its back. Black blood squirted out everywhere and on me as well. Suddenly the tail of the gigantic snake quickly found its way around my body and I was suspended in the air. I felt the muscles of the tail squeezing me; a great amount of pressure and pain was surging to my head. I tried to yell for help but I became short of breath and felt light-headed.  
  
The pressure slowly disappeared from my head and I began to breathe normally. I was on the cold ground and over near the cobra I could see a slightly blurred Amy trying to fight it with a yellow and red hammer she had. The cobra dove at her numerous times but she dodged it and retaliated with her hammer hitting the giant as hard as she could. Being too dizzy to get up all I could do was watch as my ally defended herself from the cobra. Then it happened. The cobra made a surprise attack on Amy with its tail and she tumbled down the small hill and right into a tombstone; her hammer was knocked away from her in the attack. Amy struggled to get up as the snake approached her but she was limp and helpless.  
  
Suddenly I began to feel hot as a surge of burning energy flowed through my body. I could feel sweat drops fall down my face and my breathing became harder and harder. Clenching onto my chest I fell into darkness.  
  
A graveyard… in blood red? My eyes scanned the area and I saw my target. The giant cobra was advancing upon my ally who was on the ground. My tremendous roar filled the air and got the cobras attention. It approached me and attacked. I blocked its mouth with my claws and pushed away forcefully. The cobra is thrown back but returned to me with more rage. A venomous liquid is sprayed at me but my wings protected my body. The spray of liquid ceased and I threw my wings back. Vengeance is mine cobra! Your blood shall be my reward!  
  
My claws burned with rage and I struck the cobra across its neck. Dark colored blood sprayed everywhere as the cobra cried out in pain. I grabbed onto its neck and break it in half; a loud crack is heard. The cobra limps dead in my claws and I threw it to the ground and tore it to shreds. Blood flew everywhere as I shredded my opponent into pieces. Then I stopped and observed the body parts and organs of the cobra as they melted into a dark liquid that seeped into the ground. I cried out in victory over the battle and look to where my ally is. She is backed up against the tombstone; fear is in her eyes. I approached her and she whimpers. Why are you afraid of me? Am I not your friend? Tears began to fill her eyes and she cried out a plea.  
  
"Don't hurt me Shadow. Please don't kill me." her distorted yet tiny voice begged.  
  
Sirens are heard in the distance; tiny lights are seen on the horizon; faint voices are shouting. I looked down at my ally; she is still terrified of me. Please, come with me. I will not harm you. I held my claws out and she is still scared but then heard the voices as well. She looked at me and finally relaxes. I pulled my frightened ally close to me and let out my final roar. Then… darkness. 


	7. The Message

Crimson Vision  
  
Chapter 7: The Message  
  
The enemy, his magic, the message.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
Does he want to destroy me or is this just a puzzle?  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
He's concealing something from me I know it, something dire and grim, something only I must find out.  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Slowly my eyes open to a blurred vision of darkness with specks of light here and there. The daylight hours have come. I sat up and looked around. The mysterious room I heard a faint angry voice in my head and got up and exited as quickly as I could. As I walked down the dark stairwell I could hear arguing voices shouting from the main floor. One of them belonged to Amy. I approached the top of the stairway and the light from outside nearly blinded me. Luckily I had my shades with me and covered my eyes with them. Getting a better view I could see Amy with a bandage holding up her left arm and the being she was arguing with; Sonic. I groaned in disgust and took a few steps down the stairway getting the two hedgehogs attention. I stopped just a few steps above where the light was and remained shrouded in darkness.  
  
"Shadow." Sonic hissed at me.  
  
I remained silent.  
  
"Shadow I want an answer right now!" he shouted. "What were you thinking taking Amy out to the graveyard last night!? I saw the mess you left behind there so something went on."  
  
Still I was silent. He had no business knowing about my whereabouts last night and what I was doing with Amy.  
  
"Sonic just leave him alone he's had a rough night." Amy stepped in between us.  
  
Sonic pushed her aside and took a few steps towards the stairs.  
  
"If you're just gonna be silent then hear this: I want you to stay away from Amy. I'm not letting her end up like Tails who's almost on his deathbed! So if I ever catch you around Amy at night you're going down and if I can't do it, then I'll make sure this town knows about you." Sonic's threat was not idle and he meant every word of it.  
  
He then grabbed onto Amy's uninjured hand but she pulled away.  
  
"Sonic, why can't you just give Shadow another chance? He's changed, he isn't the same anymore." Amy explained to her friend.  
  
"He's turned into that monster twice ever since we've got here and you've been injured both times. Plus there have been reports of people being murdered here by a monster and Shadow's the main and only suspect. So how can you be sure that he's changed for good?" Sonic asked her.  
  
Amy was silent and lowered her head. Sonic just left silently and Amy looked up at me with sorrow and then left closing the door behind her. When night came I decided to take a chance and go out into the town. I was starving and couldn't take it anymore. As I went about I heard stories about a mess of dark liquid being found over in the graveyard. There were also a few about a roaring monster that disappeared just as the police arrived. Ironic how the strangest things happen on my rough nights.  
  
I was forced into an alley because of the patrolling cars. There I took a few seconds to rest and to think up a strategy of how to go about unnoticed. I walked down the dark alley brainstorming. Just as I was exiting out the other end I looked up to see the hospital. My thoughts wandered over to Sonic and his story about Tails.  
  
"Might as well see how the kid's doing." I spoke.  
  
Another car went by before I dashed across the street and up the fire escape of a neighboring building. I remember what room Tails was in from Amy's last visit.  
  
"There are two tails in the window." she explained.  
  
Soon I found the window containing the tails and jumped across onto the ledge. Pushing my shades closer to my eyes I could make out Sonic and Amy standing by the bed where Tails lay. The fox was covered with bandages around his head and torso. He was hooked up to machines and listening carefully I could hear their muffled beeping. Sonic and Amy both had worried looks on their faces. Their lips began to move but I couldn't hear their words. Then Sonic left leaving Amy alone. I tapped on the window lightly getting Amy's attention. Seeing me she approached the window and cracked it open.  
  
"Shadow, what are you doing here?" she asked.  
  
"The streets are crawling with police cars. I should've stayed at home." I explained.  
  
"You shouldn't be here either. Sonic may return any second now."  
  
Her words were unheard as I was gazing over at Tails. The fox's fur looked a bit faded and he was a bit thinner than the last time I saw him. His body lying still on the bed was unsettling for me. I now realized why Sonic was so caught up in this. Tails was nearly helpless in his state. I quickly looked away.  
  
"It's sad isn't it." Amy spoke. "He was fine a few days ago and then he just… fell out of it."  
  
"What do you mean?" I asked turning back to Amy.  
  
"The doctor's said that there was some kind of poison or virus in Tails. They have no idea where it came from and there seems to be no antidote for it."  
  
I was about to speak when I heard the door opening. Amy spun around to see who it was while I swiftly left the scene. I didn't get too far into the housing development because of the police cars roaming about so I went into whatever house was near me and got what I needed. The taste of blood was almost new to me after so long.  
  
On my way back home I was spotted by the police. They chased me down into an alley where I got away and escaped to my turf unnoticed.  
  
"Damn police." I muttered. "If this keeps up then I'll have to move to another place. One that isn't so obvious as this."  
  
As I entered into the yard of my residence a slithering sound was heard.  
  
"Not again." I thought.  
  
The serpent appeared out of the bushes again; a white scar circled around its neck and another white scar was on his tail. I glared at the snake as it approached me.  
  
"So you're moving away? No matter, it will be easier killing you elsewhere than here." the serpent hissed.  
  
How stupid is that idiot? Thinking that it can kill me? That serpent oblivious to the fact that I have more power than it. I scoffed and continued on to the front door; the serpent followed me. As I entered the house and took off my shades the creature seeped out of the floor.  
  
"Why do you bother me?" I ask it.  
  
"You and I both know the reason. Therefore you must die." the serpent replied.  
  
I took off my trench coat and set it on the rack. I walked past the snake towards the dining room when suddenly it jumped at me from behind. I grabbed it in mid-air and held onto its throat firmly.  
  
"I have enough problems already. Just leave me alone." With that I dropped the snake and went towards the dining room again.  
  
"Fine then, but you and I both know that you must die before it's too late." the snake said harshly.  
  
I spun around but the snake had disappeared. Its tone of voice was ominous and seemed like a warning of some sort. I wasn't sure whether to take it as a premonition or a riddle to solve. I now realized that it was hiding something from me. Something that would lead to my death. But should I take heed of his word or just throw it aside for later? Bah! Forget it. Too much is going on for me to worry about a fragile serpents words. But I know that there's more to that snake than just magic and mind games. 


	8. Sonic's Revenge

Crimson Vision  
  
Chapter 8: Sonic's Revenge  
  
Death, sorrow, and suffering.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
My adversary returns to avenge his friend.  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
Was it really my fault for something I wasn't even involved in? How can I be guilty of it?  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The daylight hours seem to be going by slower every time I go through something. By now so much has happened it's getting harder and harder for me to live one decent night where everything is in its place. I now have enemies that I didn't ask for; crimes that I didn't commit; a past and a future thought to be hidden forever. So much has happened it's getting harder for me to keep on going. I'd rather stop now and end it here.  
  
Instead of taking a chance and risking my life I stayed at home tonight and starved myself. I went to the back of the house probably trying to take some weight off my mind. I've never been back here; just seen it from the dining room window. It's pretty much tranquil in my book. Darkness, gloom, death. A barren piece of land reserved just for me. Slowly I walked out into the middle of the dry yard and looked into the gloomy forest ahead of me. I doubt that there was anything more beyond that forest other than more land to travel through. Seems like a good direction to go in after everything that's happened. Perhaps for the better.  
  
Just as I was turned to go back inside his voice rang in my head again.  
  
"Shadow!!"  
  
Just as I suspected Sonic returned. I wonder what he's mad about now. The blue hedgehog came from around the side of the house and approached me. He stared at me dead in the eye. I just casually returned the look back to him.  
  
"Problem?" I ask.  
  
"More than that. Tails is dead." Sonic replied angrily.  
  
"Pity, but obviously not my problem."  
  
I tried to go in but Sonic stopped me.  
  
"I only let you walk away last time because of Amy. Now that she isn't here I think I'll settle this once and for all." Sonic was threatening me obviously.  
  
"I really didn't ask to know you and I don't want to know you. But you forced your way into my life." I say to Sonic. "I accept your challenge but only to make sure that you're forgotten."  
  
No sooner had I accepted his challenge Sonic came dashing towards me with that spin dash attack of his. I dodged it and made some distance between the two of us. The blue hedgehog ran towards me with great speed and at the last second I stepped aside and slammed my fist into him. Sonic tumbled back across the yard and stopped. I walked up to him as he lay on the ground curled up. He trembled in pain and blood was slowly coming out of his mouth. Time to end his life.  
  
Picking up Sonic he winced in pain as I propped him up on his feet. Then I began to squeeze Sonic's head using both of my hands. His face began to turn red from the pressure as I strained to smash his skull. Sonic grabbed onto my wrist in attempt to push me away. But nothing could stop me now, though I regret thinking that. Some how he kicked me in the chin, knocking me away. Either he had gotten stronger or I was losing my edge. I stumbled back but recovered quickly. I looked over at Sonic who was recovering from his pain as well. Suddenly he went into a spin dash again and shot out towards me. I jumped up to dodge him and hovered using the jets on my shoes. The ball had turned and was coming in my direction and as if it could sense me the ball jumped high into the air flying towards me. But with a swift kick I sent Sonic back and he fell to the ground.  
  
He jumped to his feet and charged at me just as I landed. He began throwing punches at me left and right. I dodged some and blocked others as the hedgehog continued his rage against me. Another swing came at me and I stopped it with my left hand. Sonic attacked with his other hand and I stopped that as well. We pushed against each other's strength although I should've over powered him easily. In an attempt to buy me some time I pushed Sonic away with full force but that left me open for attack. Sonic revved up quickly and charged into me carrying me across the yard and we slammed into a tree.  
  
I slumped to the ground trying to absorb the pain. It had never gotten this bad in battle; I was definitely losing my edge. I was in pain but it was my anger that gave me strength to stand up. I could barely see Sonic gritting his teeth and breathing hard. He tried to tackle me but I stepped aside and grabbed onto the low branch of the tree. I pulled down on it and the limb snapped off. With the branch on my shoulder and Sonic in my view I was ready to finish him off. I swung the branch at him with much force but his speed saved him from my attacks. I attacked again and again but to no avail none of my attacks made any contact with my enemy.  
  
I took another swing at Sonic and as expected he dodged the attack but he kept on moving. Sonic sped by me, jumped off the tree behind me and retaliated with a swift kick to my face. I fell back dropping the branch and landed on my back. I stared up into the dark sky for sometime yet I wasn't sure if I was mentally there. All I knew was that Sonic was going to pay dearly. My anger slightly grew as I sat up and scanned the area for that hedgehog. He was gone. Where did he go now? I stood up and walked back towards the house still looking out for Sonic. Then he attacked me again; this time from behind.  
  
He had me in a headlock and was trying to strangle me to death. But I was ready for him and flipped Sonic over and off of me. He landed on his feet, that bastard, and charged at me again. This time I used my head and ran from him. I let him chase me around the yard and then began to head back towards the branch. I scooped up the dead limb and came to a screeching halt. Sonic was going too fast to stop which was my turn to attack. I swung the branch with all my strength and it made contact with the blue hedgehog. It snapped in two as it slammed into Sonic knocking him away towards some other trees. I wasn't sure where I had hit the hedgehog what mattered was that he was down and out… but I wasn't finished with him yet.  
  
Strangely the rage in me began to grow despite the fact that I had won the fight. Slowly I walked over to Sonic's body and looked down on it. There was a large gash in his head and blood poured out of it. Just looking at the red juices made my mouth water. I dropped the branch breathing harder and harder; sweat falling down my face.  
  
"Should I?" I pondered over the situation "He's probably on his way towards his death bed… but it has been a while since I've tasted blood."  
  
I battled over the decision in my head and then came to a conclusion: go for it. It may be the last time I see or even taste my most favored meal. But before I could even make a single move something struck me in the back of my head and I blacked out. 


	9. Friend of the Serpent

Crimson Vision  
  
1 Chapter 9: Friend of the Serpent  
  
The second piece, the second stalker, more disaster.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
Moving stealthily through the night its silence drives me mad.  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
They both know something and enjoy hiding it from me but I will find out their secret.  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It's been at least an hour since I've woke up. As expected Amy was there beside me, with her arm still bandaged up, nursing me back to whatever good health is defined as for me and Sonic was gone. Once again I get a full explanation from Amy.  
  
"You're pretty lucky Sonic doesn't remember anything that happened yesterday." she said. "He figured that he ran into something while running."  
  
A better way to get a concussion if you ask me. I would've gotten up and left the main room at this point but I was still bruised up from the fight. I had a black eye though I wondered how Amy could've seen it through my black fur. I also had a few sore muscles from lifting the branch but that didn't bother me much. All I could do was lie on the couch and listen to Amy. She continued on.  
  
"I would've stopped Sonic but you know how fast he is." Amy said. I nodded knowing how short tempered he is as well. "He's pretty much beaten up about Tails' death. I am too but…"  
  
She struggled to say her last words but tears came out of her eyes. I held her hand for comfort although I knew very little about the boy. She pulled away gently wiping her eyes and muttering 'thank you' under her breath. She got up from the chair next to me and began to leave but I stopped her with a question.  
  
"Amy, I just want to know why did you knock me unconscious yesterday?" I asked her because she left out that part in her explanation.  
  
"Who me? I didn't knock you unconscious; not with my arm like this. You were already out when I got here." Amy replied.  
  
There's a new twist. I'd figured Amy was the one who would have enough guts to pop me from behind. She and Sonic are friends. Amy left silently and went into the kitchen, I stayed on the couch for a while longer. The light outside was bright; must be around the afternoon time. I was still starving and things were still chaotic around town. I didn't worry about it too much, mainly because Amy's been around me for the last few days. In fact I didn't think about a lot of my troubles ever since Amy befriended me. The only thing that bothered me now was that stupid serpent and what it said.  
  
"You and I both know that you must die before it's too late." That same phrase rang in my head a few times yet I still ignored it as if it meant nothing.  
  
Amy appeared in the doorway carrying a light green jacket.  
  
"I'm leaving now Shadow." she announced. "Just get some rest until you feel better."  
  
I waved my hand in response and Amy left. Finally I was alone, the way I wanted it to be. I decided to take Amy's advice and try to get some sleep. But then it appeared once again to aggravate me.  
  
"You're still alive? Damn it, I though that hedgehog would kill you." it's sleek harsh voice spoke.  
  
I looked over towards the doorway and there it was. The black serpent slithered across the floor and made it's way up onto the table in front of me.  
  
"Don't you have mice to hunt?" I ask looking away.  
  
"You're the only prey I'm concerned with. Tell me Shadow, why are you so desperate to stay alive?" the serpent questioned.  
  
"The same reason why every other being wants to stay alive. To live their life to the fullest."  
  
It began to chuckle coiling up its body. I glared at it demanding an answer.  
  
"You fool. I said it before and I'll say it again: You must die before it's too late." it hissed at me. "Trust me, you don't want anyone else you know get hurt or maybe even die do you?"  
  
What? This creature is really starting to get to me and moreover how does he know about Tails' death? Maybe he's the one who's killed Tails. In a mad rage I leapt off the couch seizing the serpent by its neck. I threw it to the ground and dug my heel into its body. I was still in some pain but it was the serpent I was concerned about.  
  
"You better start explaining how in the world did you kill Tails and exactly why are you putting me through all of this shit!" I yelled at it.  
  
"No matter how hard you try Shadow I'll never go away. And to answer your request it was all too easy killing that kid. I'm surprised you still haven't figured it out."  
  
I was shocked but still kept my foot on the vile serpent. I added more pressure in hopes of convincing him that I mean business. Yet he still held that disgusting smile on his face.  
  
"You're hopeless. I might as well leave you be. Eventually you'll come to an end soon." it struggled to say. "Oh and I'm not putting you through all of this Shadow, oh no. This is all your doing and the only way to stop it is if you end it now. And to answer your question, it was I who knocked you unconscious yesterday."  
  
Suddenly the serpent seeped back into the dark floor getting away again. I stomped my foot on the wooden floor cursing loudly. I was tense. That serpent killed Tails and is now going after Amy. It's even got Sonic in on this somehow. I had to relieve myself so I went down into the cellar for a good smoke. I'm not sure how long I was down there but by the time I finally emerged from my hiding place it was already dark.  
  
I went out into the front yard. A cold breeze was blowing and I shivered a bit. The seasons were changing. A few leaves blew across the front yard from the trees and the wind howled lightly. I stepped off the front porch and walked out into the yard. Looking up I could see a few stars through some cloud pockets and then a bird or something flew over me. It looked a bit disoriented and was fairly low. The bird landed on a high branch in a tree nearby. I looked up at the bird and saw it's yellow eyes standing out amongst the darkness. It ruffled its feathers causing some to fall off. Then it squawked loudly and harshly at me identifying it at a crow or something  
  
I stepped back a bit surprised by the crow's hideousness. As much as I wanted to I couldn't take my eyes off of it. The bird's yellow eyes looked into my red ones. Suddenly my mind filled with horrid visions. Visions of Amy decapitated on the ground, blood pouring out of every body part and her clothes mangled. Her skull was bashed in and blood hid her face. I could see that her right arm was still attached to the torso by a thin muscle strand and I noticed a few of her body parts were missing. I looked away quickly in horror and fear but turned to see Sonic dead as well… or so I thought.  
  
He was dragging his body towards me using his arms. Half of his legs were gone and his body was scarred up with blood seeping out of every wound. He slowly lifted his head moaning in agony. His face was even worse. Part of it burnt and missing an ear with blood seeping out of his cuts. His right eye was shut with the red liquid pouring out of it as well. He was on the verge of dying, something that I've always wanted ever since the day we met. But something about this wasn't right. He dragged himself onto my foot and grabbed onto my ankle.  
  
"Hurry." he said hoarsely. "It's coming."  
  
I wasn't sure whether to respond or not but it didn't matter. Sonic slumped onto my foot and died. I pulled away from him slowly and suddenly ahead of me a loud roar filled the air. I look upon the horizon as lightning struck and thunder boomed. There were heavy footsteps heading my way and just as the creature's head appeared on the horizon a loud squawking noise was heard. I felt the crow pecking at my head, waking me up from my nightmare.  
  
I opened my eyes and I was back in my yard. The bird flew away from me and perched on the branch again. It's yellow eyes glared at me again; this time I felt some sort of fear growing inside of me. Quickly I turned and ran back into the house slamming the door behind me. I was breathing hard, sweat ran down the side of my face. That crow did something to my mind, although I'd rather not find out what it did. Or even what it's wants. 


	10. The Nightmare Begins

Crimson Vision  
  
Chapter 10: The Nightmare Begins  
  
Fear, pain, insanity.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
Slowly my world begins to crumble; everything fading away.  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
Soon the life I used to know will be nothing but a vague memory and my ally will be the only one I can trust.  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
I've been on edge lately ever since I met that crow one night ago. I can recall clearly the events that took place when the daylight came. It was windy that morning; I was cowering on the couch in the main room. The sound of the wind blowing against the house made me a bit nervous. Then there was the rustling of the trees. Their sounds roared into my ears as if something horrible was coming. I trembled more trying to pull my attention away from the noises outside. I gazed around the dark room. Everything was perfect in its dark atmosphere… but why was I afraid of it? This was how I lived; this was how things are supposed to be. Then I looked closer into the darkness and everything wasn't what I wanted.  
  
I could see dark figures of strange creatures that seemed to laugh at me. Taunting me because of my sudden lack of security within me. Some of the creatures were small and others bigger than me. Their laughter grew and I slowly shrank. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. I leapt off the couch yelling and throwing furniture towards the shadows. I wanted them to stop laughing at me. I wanted them to stop laughing at my fear. I smashed furniture and threw some about. Then I stopped and fell to my knees. Silence is all I heard. The laughter ceased, the outside noises stopped, and I was relieved.  
  
Getting up from the couch I began to exit the room when suddenly a fairly large rock exploded through the boarded up window missing me by inches. The light from outside shone on my arm burning it intensely. Quickly I moved into the shadows and examined the burn on my left arm. Smoke slowly rose from it as it cooled; I could easily tell it was bound to get worse. Carefully avoiding the light I get out of the main room and walk into the kitchen. The windows there were boarded up completely and I sighed contentedly. Trying to recall recent events I leaned back on the counter. Even though I wanted to forget last night I couldn't help but think about that raven and what it did to me.  
  
"Those strange images in my head; were they real or just my imagination?" I thought.  
  
I tried to think up reasons explaining why I would think such things. Mid- way through my thoughts there was a crashing noise of metal pots and pans falling on me. I was buried under them as they knocked me to the floor and a sharp pain was felt on my head. Moving the cooking ware off of me I felt my forehead and realized that I was bleeding. Gazing above me I saw that one of the cabinet doors was open and hanging on one hinge. The house was old and falling apart which was easy to understand so I let that incident pass. I left the kitchen and decided to go to the empty room at the south end of the house. Nothing was in there so there was no way I could get injured in any way.  
  
Much to my dismay on the way to the empty room I slipped on a circular object and fell flat on my back. Dust rose around me as I blankly stared up at the ceiling. The pain in my head worsened a bit as I sat up but I shook it off. A glass bottle slowly rolling away was in front of me. How stupid was that? A glass bottle lands me right on my back. I could've broken my neck or something. I stayed on the floor not moving a muscle. Why bother getting up when more shit would happen? Eventually I fell asleep and time passed by more quickly.  
  
It was dark when I woke up. Slowly getting to my feet I walked to the front door but I didn't open it. I was still afraid that raven might be out there waiting to torment my mind. I wanted to go out but I was frozen in place. My mind had wandered off and all I could do was stare at the door mindlessly. Suddenly the doorknob turned releasing me from my trance. I saw Amy's face and sighed with relief.  
  
"Hi Shadow." she greeted me cheerfully. "Were you coming out?"  
  
I nodded and grabbed my trench coat off the coat hanger and the two of us left the dark house. We walked down the nearly empty street of the town. Things seem to be getting back to normal. Not as much police cars patrolling about and the usual night owls were returning to the streets and bars they loved so much. I decided to stay by Amy and not wander off. More trouble could stir up. Everything was going smoothly… that is until a bird decided to try and rip out my eye. Then a cat (a black one I might add) decided to join in on the assault. I wasn't sure where the hell Amy was but it didn't matter. I was able to take care of them both earning a cut over my right eye during the fight. What happened to them? Well I figured cats love to eat birds so I shoved that bird down the cat's damn throat. Makes a nice Halloween ornament if you ask me.  
  
I had a feeling other crap would happen; I was just hoping that Amy would be a little more helpful in the next fight. I put on my shades and we continued on down the street, Amy constantly suggesting that she should tend to my wound. I ignored her; there were feathers stuck to my coat. I was pulling feathers off when a door decided to swing open and slammed into my face. Was I mad? More than you think. Would I kick his ass real good? No doubt. The door closed yet I remained in the same position. I opened my eyes to see three tough beings in front of me. Them and a crack in my shades. Pushing my eyewear back up on my face I glared at the beings.  
  
"You broke my shades." I said to the beings.  
  
"Yeah well you should've been watching where you were going loser." the tall one in the middle said. The other two agreed.  
  
"You broke my shades, my favorite shades." I reiterated just in case they didn't hear me the first time.  
  
"Yeah whatever." the tall one replied.  
  
He glanced over at Amy and smiled in a stupid manner. Just as he advance upon the girl I stepped in his path, his smile fading away.  
  
"Hey move it asshole!" he yelled at me.  
  
I didn't say anything return. Instead I took Amy by the hand and turned around.  
  
"We better get back to my place." I informed her.  
  
I felt my friend being yanked out of my hand and I spun around to see that the tall being had her. Amy struggled to get free but she was shoved back to the other two thugs.  
  
"I didn't say you could take her anywhere." the tall one spoke.  
  
"Let her go!" I demanded. No one messes with Amy, especially after they break my shades.  
  
"Come and get her." he was obviously inviting me for a little brawl. I'd do whatever it takes to keep Amy safe which was one thing he should've guessed right after he took a blow in the face from me.  
  
I then got the other two out of the way with a simple one-two kick and Amy and me ditched the scene. It wasn't long until the three were after us but what got me was why the hell was there a mob following them? Must be my luck with the way it's been screwing around with me lately. I ran as fast as I could and made a turn into an alley hoping it would be and outlet. Turns out it was a dead end; my screwed up luck again. I told Amy to stay behind me; she didn't have a chance against these guys.  
  
They came into the alley and it turns out that there weren't that many. Maybe about ten more join the three beings that picked a fight with me. They all had their share of weapons ranging from broken glass bottles to oversized clubs. I made my first attack in a desperate attempt to get Amy and me out of there before anything else happened. The beings were tough in retaliation and enjoyed attacking me in groups like wild animals. I fought back even harder giving them my best hits but none could knock them out. I took a blow to the head and was on my back.  
  
Suddenly the beings began to kick/punch/throw shit, whatever at me. More cuts and gashes appeared on my body. And just when I thought it was over Amy finally comes in with her oversized hammer knocking out the drunken fools left and right. Then it was all over. The fight stopped, there was moaning coming from the injured bodies in the alley and I was on the verge of passing out… if it had not been for the police sirens heard coming down the street.  
  
Immediately the alley emptied and Amy and I were on the run again. This time I used the air jets on my shoes to get away. The two of us eventually ended up leaving town but not going too far. We stopped in an open field; I was exhausted and Amy was helping me into an underground cave nearby. There we rested and it was there I lost the last of my sanity.  
  
"That was so scary wasn't it Shadow?" Amy asked but I didn't respond.  
  
I was curled up in the corner trembling vigorously. I had completely lost it… and had a damn good reason for it as well. I'm covered in bloody cuts and scars and spent the last twenty-four hours in hell. Animals were now talking to me and a damn blue hedgehog wouldn't stop harassing my ass. And on top of that I was afraid of a fucking room!! A dark damp empty room at the top of a dark damp house which has been abandoned for who knows how long!! And here I am, a vampire, starving half to death, fighting off talking animals and harassing enemies and hanging around a wimpy pink hedgehog!! It's so sad it's practically hilarious!!  
  
I'm not sure why but began to chuckle a bit… which turned into a laugh… which turned into a hysterical lost of all of my sanity. I got a glimpse of Amy who was trembling in fear. Who can blame her? She must be scared our of her wits because of what I've put her through and now look at all the time she's wasted with me!! Slowly I began to calm down and then I curled up again catching my breath. Amy's hand touched my shoulder.  
  
"Sh-Shadow? A-are you ok?" she asked still trembling.  
  
I gazed over my shoulder raising an eyebrow a bit. Of all beings she would be the only one to ask me that question.  
  
"Am I ok?" I echoed her. "Amy, I'm covered with scars, had the worst luck ever, currently being pestered by possessed animals and stuck with a rival who seems to have his head stuck up his ass. And you dare to ask me if I'm ok?"  
  
I merely gave her a scoff turning back over on my side. I felt her warm hand gently pet my head as her fingers rolled off my quills. It was quite soothing and probably what I needed.  
  
"You better get some rest." I heard Amy say as I drifted off to sleep.  
  
So it's finally come to this. I'm chased out of town and home and my only ally, my only friend, is all I have left. Well I lived a peaceful life and now seems like a good time for me to pass on. 


	11. Hanging by a Moment

Iris: Sorry I didn't update over the past few months but I had completely lost the point of this story because of summer and everything that happened but I'm back and that's it.  
  
Crimson Vision  
  
Chapter 11: Hanging by a Moment  
  
Lost, unwanted, confused.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
I have no hope and I have no help.  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
I started this with nothing and I'll end it with nothing. There's no holding me back now.  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
I don't know why but I'm almost afraid to open my eyes. Still curled up in the darkness of the small cave I assumed that the daylight had returned so there was nowhere for me to go. I could hear the footsteps of Amy coming into the cave. She stopped behind me and that was it. Knowing her she probably pitied my cowardly behavior and how I ran from town terrified of mere beings. What else could I do? It was obvious that I had gone insane. That serpent with its riddles and that raven with it's illusions. they were the cause of all this. and now there's nothing I can do except cower in this cave and perhaps die here. But knowing Amy she wouldn't allow that to happen. Gently she tapped me on the shoulder. I remained silent and still. Amy shook me a bit but I still remained still.  
  
"Please don't do it Amy." I begged in the back of my mind. "Leave it be and let me die here."  
  
A few more gentle shoves from Amy and I brushed her away with my hand and tried to sleep. I heard her groan in frustration and she finally got my attention.  
  
"Shadow get up!" she said angrily. "I know things are at its worst but that doesn't mean you can lie here as if nothing ever happened. You have to go back there and make things right."  
  
My body bolted up and faced Amy as I spouted out, "And how am I suppose to do that!? Sonic is pissed off at me for some reason and that damn serpent and raven constantly invade my mind and they wont go away!"  
  
"Maybe they're trying to tell you something." Amy suggested.  
  
I scoffed and turned away; load of B.S. that is. What is a serpent who wants me to kill myself and a raven who gives me horrifying illusions trying to tell me? That I should die before a monster comes and tries to kill me? That'll be the day. All I want to do is forget this and start over, this town was never good enough for me in the first place anyway.  
  
"Shadow," Amy began again. "I understand that you are angry about all of this but if you just let me help-"  
  
I had slapped her away cutting her off. How could she possibly understand my pain and suffering? She couldn't. In fact no one can and ever will. Slowly I stood up and stalked towards Amy as she pressed herself against the cold wall. Fear was on her face although I didn't want to make her scared of me, it was the only way to let her know.  
  
"No one," I began, "not even you will ever understand what it feels like to be alone, unwanted, and hated by those who have never done anything to you. Only Shadow the Hedgehog knows and there is only one Shadow and that is me. I stand alone in this world and I will remain alone. The only reason I ever let you stay with me was that I thought you could truly help me. But it seems you are like anyone else: all talk and very little action."  
  
Amy seemed speechless at fist but then I could see she was trying to say something to me but was afraid. At this point I didn't care about what she had to say and turned away from her. I heard her stood up slipping a bit and then she spoke.  
  
"Shadow I won't give up on you yet." Here she goes again. "So what if I don't understand what you're going through the least you can do is let me back in. Maybe we may actually get somewhere in finding out your past."  
  
I wasn't sure what drove me to attack Amy but that's the next thing I did. I had spun around and punched the hedgehog hard enough for her to stumble back into the rock wall. She had reminded me of what started this whole mess: My past and her curiosity to finding out about it. I will admit I myself was curious but I knew when to back off and let it stay unknown. But as soon as Amy came into my life everything went downhill from there. The frequent fights with Sonic, Tails' death, and the serpent and the raven. All of these things wouldn't have happened if Amy hadn't pushed me.  
  
Now that I know the root of all of this there was only one thing left for me to do and that was get rid of it. I had to drive Amy away from me, even if it meant killing her.  
  
"It was you all along." I said menacingly towards Amy. "You were the reason everything went wrong, you were why I went insane. It's a shame I didn't see it earlier, I could've bitten you and probably killed you afterwards. But I won't do it know. I've done enough killing to last me years so I'll do the next best thing."  
  
Suddenly anger overpowered me as I yanked out a piece of rock from the wall and chucked it at Amy. It was cruel but it got her moving. She tried to defend herself by apologizing but her words fell on deaf ears. I did whatever I could to drive her away. Fighting, glaring, hissing, showing my fangs to her. Finally it worked and she ran out sobbing, her last words being:  
  
"How could you Shadow? After everything I did for you."  
  
She was gone, out of my life for good. This was something worth celebrating so I reached into my pocket and pulled out my last cigarette and lit it with my last match. One inhale from the drug and I was calm and cool and rested in the corner of the cave.  
  
The daylight hours rolled on by and then the night came. I decided to leave the comfort of the cave to see the peaceful darkness I missed so much. Slowly I climbed out and took in the scenery of the wilderness. The crickets cried from the grass and an owl's unsettling hooting echoed in the distance. I walked into a nearby forest for no reason. I just had to walk somewhere even though I wouldn't be able to feed off of any life out here. I assumed that Amy had gone back to town, back to Sonic who's probably worried sick out about her now. Well at least two more good things came out of my actions; no more Sonic and no more worries for him. He can leave this place and forget about me.  
  
I continued to think of more positives from this situation unaware of the fact that I was still walking deeper into the forest. Suddenly I stumbled on something bringing me back to reality. Looking down I saw a tattered old bag with something silver inside of it. Not even thinking I bent over and unveiled the object, which happened to be a gun, a fairly new one from the looks of it. But how did it get all the way out here? Strangely I found myself examining the weapon. It was still in good shape and still had some bullets in it, five to be exact. But then disturbing thoughts rushed through my mind; thoughts of what I could possibly do with this weapon. Perhaps kill Sonic and maybe Amy or murder one more irrelevant being. These gruesome thoughts continued coming into my head until the one sensible idea finally arrived: kill myself. I would've lived for nothing but it would be better than to deal with this.  
  
Lying on my back I held the gun in my hands and stared into the night sky. It was clear and partially full of stars but the moon hung over me assuring that the stars would not be the only witness to my death. And since I was going to die very soon the last thing I wanted to do was remember life the way it was, before Amy. The dark cold nights alone in my home with only the emptiness to keep me company is what I considered a pleasant evening. My nights out on the town feeding off of who ever I searched down was my quiet dinner alone. The trips I took up to the Mysterious Room only to wake up in pain were my daily troubles. In my opinion the only job I ever held was the non-existent job where I didn't exist in the eyes of the beings.  
  
That was my average life, the life I threw away all because of that room. I even began to miss the pain it caused me.the pleasure I felt in it. But now I had to say goodbye to all of that, there's no turning back for me, no changing my mind. I expected myself to just shoot me in the head at point blank range, but I didn't. Instead I stood up and paced around in a circle still holding the gun. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. At least that's what my self-conscious was saying. As much as I wanted to die I just couldn't, something was holding me back, delaying me if you will. But I was determined and nothing was going to stop me now.  
  
I figured that I was just afraid of the pain I would suffer.yeah that was it. I feared the pain that would come even though I'd be dead. I placed the gun onto the ground and searched for a sharp object. Something I could use to inflict pain upon myself to make my suicide easier. I was able to find a sharp rock under the dirt and picked that up. Making sure that it was sharp enough to cut me I made a small slit in my arm. Blood seeped out and a smile grew on my face. Raising the object above me I made no hesitation in making the second slit in my right arm. More blood came out and a sudden flame of excitement came over me.  
  
Cuts turned into slits, slits turned into slashes. Soon both of my arms were bloody and the rock itself was too. Even though sharp pains coursed through them I didn't care. It didn't phase me because an even greater pain would course through my head in a matter of seconds. I struggled to pick up the gun from the ground and went back to my horizontal position staring into the sky. But something else stopped me again. The moon. I gazed into it and realized that it-no- she was always watching me on my nights out. She was the only one that helped me survive. Lighting the darkest alleys and always shining down on my home to keep me company. I'm sure the moon would miss me dearly but she knows what I've been through, she's seen everything. Although there are many stars to keep her company.at least she knows how I feel. The moon will always remember me and I will remember it as well.  
  
Finally the time came where I had to end this. No more fooling around, no more delays. This was it. I thought I would just go ahead and shoot myself point blank in the head, but I decided to play a little Russian Roulette only there would be five bullets making my chance of survival slim.just the way I wanted it. I spun the revolver on the gun and pointed it to my head once it stopped. Closing my eyes my finger slipped onto the trigger and I muttered my last words:  
  
"This is how it ends.and no one will ever know." 


	12. A Crow's Vision

Crimson Vision  
  
Chapter 12: A Crow's Vision  
  
A Mystery, the unknown, the truth.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
It's eyes full of visions, visions that I fear.  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
But wait.a vision of. tranquility? What does this mean? Why is the crow showing this to me? Who is this person?  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
My breathing was harder than usual, I could still hear the crickets chirping and for some strange reason I could see the moon and stars above me. I could think clearly and only one thought came to mind,  
  
"It had to be the sixth one."  
  
That was it. Either my luck was going against me no matter what I did or maybe I was meant to stick this out till the end. Now less interested in killing myself I stood up and sharp pains shot through my arms. How could I have forgotten about the scars I created on my arms? Didn't matter, I was still looking forward to dying so maybe losing my arms would help me get there. Placing the gun back into my trench coat pocket I began a slow trek back towards the town. Even though it wasn't a wise decision I wanted to go home. I felt a strange sense of wanting to return home like it was essential for me.must be one of the rare emotions that I feel.  
  
With my arms hanging limp away from my body I cautiously made my way through the thick shrubs and eventually exited the forest. The town graveyard was in view and brought back memories of that serpent. and then the crow. I hated the serpent but the crow was another story. We may have only met once but it was that one meeting that told me it would come back. So far being the only thing to put true fear into my heart I try to keep a look out for it. So far it hasn't returned.  
  
Slowly I make my way near the graveyard and take a glance at it as I pass by its metal fence. I thought about Amy and where she could've gone off to and maybe even regretted scaring her away. Just as I tore my eyes away from the grounds of the dead an awkward squawk rang in my ear. A blur flew by my head missing it by inches and a tree branch rustled. I froze in place afraid to turn around. The crow had returned and was squawking at me constantly but I wasn't a fool. I wouldn't turn around and fall into its trap. So instead of listening to its shrieks I decided to leave, only problem was my legs weren't moving at all. That's when I became afraid.  
  
My breathing increased as I tried constantly to move my legs but they weren't getting the signal. I assumed that crow had me under some curse despite the fact I didn't believe in such things. My eyes darted around looking for someone in the distance to help. No one was there except for the crow who was still squawking at me angrily. It's cries became louder and harsher until suddenly something hit the back of my head bouncing off of it. A rock fell in front of me and I spun around glaring at the crow. was I an idiot or what? The moment I looked into the crow's eyes my whole body froze and I was drawn into the crow's mysterious power.  
  
Everything around me slowly faded away and there I was, in darkness. Suddenly a bright light blinded me and I covered my eyes. A soft voice spoke to me; a voice that sounded familiar but where have I heard it from? It whispered my name again softly and a figure appeared at the end of the tunnel of light. I tried so hard to peek through at the figure but I couldn't and I had to settle with it's voice.  
  
"Shadow...Shadow.." the soft voice whispered. "I'm so glad you could come."  
  
"Wh-who are you?" I asked timidly.  
  
"Come with me, I know you'll like it here."  
  
The figured dissolved into the light and the light itself became less bright. Finally I could uncover my eyes and I saw the most strangest place I had ever seen. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue; a more lighter shade that I have never seen. Hanging in the lightly colored sky was a bright light round just like the moon and with the bright light were pieces of soft white cotton. My eyes soon were drawn to the green colors of the ground below me and the trees around me. Each tree had an ample amount of thin green extensions that rustled in the wind. The ground below waved lightly as the wind blew by. All was tranquil and yet unsettling at the same time. I had no idea where I was or what happened. But I turned around and everything became clear.  
  
It was an almost familiar structure that stood tall and looked replenished. Its wood a brighter color than I'm used to, the windows clear and reflective like a mirror, and what seemed to be a small garden growing near it enticing insects to enjoy it. But it couldn't have been; it was impossible. There was no way that lively house was the same dark, tattered, and depressed house that I live in. But it was and I had to find out what was going on. Just then I heard a scream come from the highest window of the house, the Mysterious room, but it was cut short. Suddenly the glass of a window shattered as something flew from the room and into the sky.  
  
I looked up to see where it had flown off to but all I saw was a dark shadow was shooting down towards me. I rolled off to the side nearly dodging its attack and took off for the forest. I didn't know what it was but I didn't want to stay around and find out. I wasn't sure as to where I was going but as I ran that fear the crow gave me grew quickly inside of me. Everything around me grew dark. All the color faded away and the green extensions melted off the trees. I was feeling more comfortable but that didn't make my fear go away. Whatever that shadow was wanted to harm me, I could tell by the way it slashed and rampaged after me through the forest.  
  
My mind was in a panic, I wanted to find a safe place to hide but everything was the same. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, pillars of dark light shot up from the ground as if they were trying to attack me as well. More and more of them shot up and the shadow behind me was getting closer. I had to admit I wanted to get out of here, I wanted to return home, this was not the way I wanted to die. And my cry for help was answered, I could see an ending to the forest and knew I had an advantage out there. But before I could even see what was beyond the boundaries the shadow exploded from a tree and knocked me back into the darkness that had formed behind me.  
  
The feeling of falling backwards frightened me even more. I wasn't sure what was going to happen and if I was going to hit something please let it be solid ground. Once again my plea was answered and I was on my back and in the world I recognized. It was still dark outside and the moon was still up there with the stars only it had moved across the sky. I looked up back in the tree and the crow was still there staring at me with its hideous yellow eyes. Why did it look at me in a convicting way? What did I do?  
  
I continued to ponder over the crow when it squawked at me again. I look up at the crow and it pointed towards the east. I looked in the direction and could tell from the coloring of the sky that I was in the crow's curse for some time and it was almost dawn. Stumbling to my feet I dashed off towards the town and blew through no matter who saw me. Finally I reached my humble and dark home just the way I had left it and went inside just as the first ray of daylight appeared. I fell onto the couch and closed my eyes; I needed rest after spending a night with nature. and my arms were still in pain from the cuts on them. Oh why bother about it? I dropped all my worries and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.  
  
When I woke up hours later to find my arms have been bandaged up telling me that Amy had been by or was still here. I decided to check around for anymore signs that Amy left behind. As I walked out of the main room my trench coat was hung up by the door neatly; in the kitchen the mess was cleaned up and in the dining room there was Amy. Her head was down on the table and she seemed exhausted or overworked. I wasn't sure what to do remembering what I said to her yesterday. But I knew that if I ever wanted to end this she was the only way I would make it through so it was now or never.  
  
Gently I shook Amy, she stirred but didn't wake up. I shook harder and the hedgehog woke up but became alert when she saw me.  
  
"Sh-Shadow!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I live here obviously. Why are you here? I thought you would be afraid to come back." I assumed.  
  
"Well. I couldn't stop thinking about you. I knew you were upset at the time so I gave you the space you needed. I know you won't stop after coming all of this way so the least I could do was stick with you till the end."  
  
That just about proved Amy's faithfulness to me and my search. Despite what Sonic thought about me she still risked her life for me even if I did lose my mind a few times. She cared for me and healed me when I was injured and even listened when I wanted someone to talk to. I don't know why but I always get this feeling that I knew someone just like Amy as if in a previous life or something. Whoever it was didn't matter much to me, Amy was all I had and was all I needed and her dedication to my life meant everything to me right now.  
  
"That means so much to me Amy," I said to her sincerely. "I know that we will solve my puzzle-like life and hopefully put an end to all of this. But for now we rest. We need all the strength and determination we have to make it through another night."  
  
She nodded understanding my plan and my acceptance of her back into my life. Then the hedgehog laid her head back on the table and went to sleep while I went down to the basement. Not for a smoke, just for some time to think about everything that's happened and how they tie together in this. And then there was the crow's recent vision it had given me. That too was another piece of the puzzle but what did it exactly mean? 


	13. The Final Nights: The Serpent's Slave

Crimson Vision  
  
Chapter 13: The Final Nights: The Serpent's Slave  
  
Trouble, terror, vengeance.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
They will stand in my way but I will not stop.  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
My destiny awaits, my enemies become stronger, yet I will be victorious.  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Just a few hours ago Amy and I renewed our alliance and now that night has fallen we are well rested and ready to venture out and face our enemies. With both Amy and I dressed in black we decided to go into town just to gather our thoughts and try to think of a plan. Casually we walked down the streets avoiding any blocks that had bars on them.  
  
"So you met a crow last night that gave you a vision? How strange. What was it?" Amy questioned me.  
  
"It was a bit odd but. it started out strangely." I began. "I was in some sort of tunnel of light and a soft voice spoke to me, telling me to follow. Then I found myself in the backyard of my home only it was. restored and looked new. But soon it got worse as I was chased by some shadow then I was thrown into darkness and that's when I woke up. I'm not sure what it meant but it means something."  
  
Amy thought long and hard about it, probably confusing her as well. But there was something about that voice. It sounded familiar but where have I heard it? Before I could spend any more time thinking about it a sudden rush came over me. That tingling feeling that I haven't felt in so many nights came back. My urge to suck the 'life' out of someone. Finally after so many starving nights I finally desire a taste for blood. The urge was so strong that I had to leave Amy out of this but it would only be for a short time.  
  
"Amy I have something I need to take care of." I explained to her and she understood.  
  
I darted into an alley and let my instincts carry me to my victim. The warmth of his 'life' coursed though my body heating it up only for a few seconds. I wiped my mouth of any excess blood and quickly left returning back to Amy. But when I got back to her someone I least expected to see was with her.  
  
"Sonic, how long has it been since we last met?" I greeted him casually.  
  
He still had the bandage around his head from the injury I gave him.  
  
"Cut the small talk Shadow. I know you're not an idiot so you should've remembered me telling you to stay away from Amy." Sonic replied in a harsh voice.  
  
"Try telling that to her. She's the one who keeps coming back to me. But the more you try to keep us away from each other, the harder you're making it on yourself."  
  
I took Amy by her hand and began to walk away of course I knew Sonic was going to attack me for that and he did as expected. I pushed Amy out of the way and blocked Sonic's attempt to tackle me. I didn't want to fight him but if he wanted one then I'll give him one. I punched Sonic away from me and slammed my fist into his stomach. He hunched over catching his breath and Amy began to beg for us to stop. The blue hedgehog staggered to his feet and came at me again in a reckless rage and attacked me with numerous right and left hooks, but all missed me.  
  
I grabbed his fist and swung him around me and into the brick wall of a building close by. Sonic recovered and charged at me. He was going to tackle me again, this guy is so predictable. But to my disadvantage Sonic jumped over me and landed on the mailbox that was behind me. I spun around letting my guard down and that's when Sonic kicked me right in my face. I fell but got up and lunged for Sonic. He tried to jump in order to dodge my attack but I caught him by his ankle and we both fell into the street.  
  
I got him into a headlock but Sonic began to punch me repeatedly in the face. I took the pain and continued to choke my adversary and slowly his face turned purple. I smiled as he became short of breath but suddenly somehow he was able to kick me in my face. I lost my grip on Sonic and he rolled away coughing trying to catch his breath. He must've been very flexible to pull that stunt off. We both stood up and glared into each others eyes and in a burst of speed we charged towards each other and ended up in a power struggle. With our hands locked we pushed against each others strength, I determined to over power my weaker opponent.  
  
"Just give it up Sonic." I spoke. "Me and Amy are going to solve the mystery of my life no matter what you say."  
  
"I don't care about you or your life or your needs. I want you to stay away from Amy. I just want what's best for her." he replied.  
  
"If that's true then you should've kept a good eye on her." a sleek harsh voice spoke.  
  
I released Sonic knowing exactly who it was and looked towards Amy's direction. Carefully she walked out into the street and around her neck was the Serpent. Sonic was going to help Amy but I stopped him. He looked back at me and I gave him a warning look not to make any sudden moves.  
  
"What's this about serpent?" I asked the creature. "Why use Amy to get my attention?"  
  
"I'm just trying to get an edge that's all. But you know why I'm here." the creature responded.  
  
"I know, to kill me 'before it's too late' whatever that means. It's not going to happen so just let go of Amy and leave us."  
  
"I'll let go of her as soon as you agree to give in and let me do my job."  
  
It was going to take more than a threat against my friend to cause me to give in, I came all this way and I'm not stopping. That serpent has no control over me and never will. I shook my head in disagreement to the Serpent's deal. He began to choke Amy and still I wouldn't break in but Sonic became angry and demanded that I hand myself over to the vile thing. Then the Serpent began make threats saying he would poison Amy if I didn't give up but did I? No. I had a feeling he wouldn't kill Amy on the spot. I don't know why I had this feeling but it was there. The serpent became angry with me and hissed.  
  
"Fine then," he spat. "If you don't care much for your friend then I suppose you won't mind me using her."  
  
What was that serpent up to now? Perhaps I held out a little too long. The serpent's eyes began to glow a bright green color trapping Amy in a trance. His body melted into a shadow like substance and entered into Amy's body and she dropped to the ground like a rag doll.  
  
"Amy! Now look what you did Shadow! You just get her into more trouble!" Sonic shouted at me.  
  
I couldn't defend myself on that accusation. I do get Amy into more trouble but she's the one risking her life just hanging around me. Suddenly she began to move and slowly propped herself up onto her knees and stared at Sonic and I with cold eyes. Her bright pink color was slightly faded and looked cold. Amy held out her hand and a spiked hammer formed in it. She stood up completely with her hammer in hand and I got into a fighting stance. Sonic was stunned leaving him unguarded as Amy charged towards him.  
  
She swung her hammer but Sonic quickly dodged it rolling off to the side. Continuously she slammed her hammer in an attempt to smash Sonic but the blue hedgehog escaped every attack by mere inches. I couldn't just stand here and watch him take all the heat so I charged at Amy and kicked her in the back. She fell forward dropping her hammer and allowing Sonic to get to safety.  
  
"Shadow I don't understand why you try to resist me." she spoke in cold voice. "This is for your own good so just stop."  
  
"Guard yourself Sonic. I think that serpent is up something." I warned the blue hedgehog.  
  
Amy quickly grabbed her hammer and threw it at me. I fell back avoiding the weapon and watched it fly straight back to Amy. She brought the hammer up and then slammed it into the ground sending out a gust of wind at me and Sonic. We both stood our ground fighting against the wind's power and slowly it died down and then there was silence. I opened my eyes and both Amy and Sonic had disappeared. Carefully I scanned the area and suddenly an explosion came from an alley. Sonic flew from it slamming into a wall across the street.  
  
Calmly Amy walked out of the alley with her hammer glowing. A smile grew on her face and she threw her hammer at me once again and I dodged it. But this time the hammer followed me forcing me to evade it. I tried everything I could to shake it off me but the hammer followed destroying everything in its path. An idea came to mind and I headed straight for Amy. She quickly caught onto my plan and tried to run but I caught her and held her close to me.  
  
"Should've thought twice about your plan serpent." I said.  
  
"Don't get too smart with me." Amy replied.  
  
She melted into the pavement and the hammer rammed into me sending me into a light post. I became dizzy and felt as if I was being picked up by someone. Everything was blurry my thoughts wandered and soon I was on my back and looking into Amy's emotionless eyes. She smiled and held out a hand at me. An unbearable pain shot into my chest and Amy's laughter echoed in my head. I couldn't believe it, the serpent used my friend against me and with no one else around to help my long journey would end here. but it can't. I won't let it end, I have to defend myself. I tired hard to move but my body felt like it weighed a ton. Whatever power Amy was using held me down and was going to kill me. but then it stopped. I felt light again and opened my eyes to see Sonic standing near me.  
  
"I don't know what this is about serpent but all I want is Amy back safe and sound." Sonic said strongly.  
  
Why was he helping me? He probably doesn't know that I can't do much to free Amy from the serpent's curse. But I owed him for what he did and now was a good time to repay my adversary. Amy used some sort of shadow rope to grab Sonic that was my cue to attack. Quickly and swiftly I stood up and jumped high into the air and came down on Amy ceasing her attack on Sonic. The black rope disappeared and I pressed my foot hard on Amy's chest. But the serpent inside of her gave her a tremendous boost of strength enabling her to push me off. I stumble back towards Sonic and we prepared to defend ourselves.  
  
"From the looks of things you lost an ally and gained a new enemy. A sad price to pay for your disruption in my plan." Amy said as she stood up.  
  
"I'll get her back no matter what you do serpent. There must be a weakness to you." I answered.  
  
"Fine have it your way Shadow. Amy belongs to me until I've finished my job."  
  
This serpent had crossed the line and was really irritating me. It possessed powers beyond my strength making it impossible to do anything to the creature. And now that Amy was in the mist of my troubles I could never forgive myself for anything that happened to her. I attacked Amy in a mad rage with all of my strength throwing every attack I had. But she blocked and retaliated with more powerful attacks. I couldn't let the serpent within her win despite all of its tricks. It can't break me in by using her as a defense; it'll never contaminate my mind with its vileness. Somehow I must find a way to overpower the creature. somehow!  
  
Amy attacked me with a blast of green lightning and I fell back into Sonic. He held me up and my anger grew to its peak. I felt a warmth within my body but I wasn't burning. I stood strong and didn't faint. how strange. But whatever it was that was in me I used it to my advantage and held out my hand towards Amy. A blast of red light shot forth at her knocking her over. The red light faded away and Amy lied on the ground smoke slowly rising from her body.  
  
"What was that for?! You killed her!" Sonic yelled at me.  
  
"Keep in mind Sonic, the serpent is inside of her so its powers are protecting her." I informed Sonic.  
  
We watched Amy warningly and she stirred. I prepared to attack as she stood up and looked at me. but smiled.  
  
"Seems like you've tapped into a new part of your powers, but that doesn't change anything. I'll return Shadow." Amy spoke before she dissolved into the pavement.  
  
"Amy!!" I cried out.  
  
I lost her, the serpent had her and the only one left who seemed like he could help was Sonic. I looked back at him and he had his arms crossed and glared at me.  
  
"Looks like I was right. You're nothing but trouble for Amy."  
  
Convincing him to help me was going to be harder than it looked. 


	14. Five: From Adversary to Ally

Crimson Vision  
  
Chapter 14: Five: From Adversary to Ally  
  
Concern, trust, forgiveness.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
Will he believe my story? Will he forget all I have done to him?  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
We share the same hatred for the serpent and the same concern for Amy, but can we work together?  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Of all the things that could happen to Amy this had to be one of them. What do you have to say before I kill you Shadow?" Sonic questioned as he paced around me.  
  
"First of all I have to say thanks for saving me." I answered. "Secondly I told you before Amy was the one risking her life hanging around me so it's not totally my fault."  
  
Sonic gritted his teeth as there was nothing else he could do. We didn't have a clue as to where Amy could've gone off to so searching for her was out of the question. Therefore with nothing else to do I decided to head back home. As I walked along the sidewalk I could hear Sonic following me. What did he want from me? Like him I couldn't do much for Amy except wait until she appeared again. which was the answer I was looking for. I stopped and turned around and Sonic stopped as well.  
  
"Knowing that you're not going to stop following me until Amy is safe how about you listen to a plan that I have?" I suggested.  
  
Sonic nodded and I continued.  
  
"That serpent comes to me every now and then, mostly at my home, and tries to kill me or even pesters me a bit. I figured that since he's now inside of Amy she'll come to my home and try to kill me."  
  
"So are you saying we wait at that creepy run-down place of yours until Amy shows up? Sounds like a plan but how do we get that snake out of her?" Sonic responded.  
  
That part of the plan I was still stumped on. Even after accessing a new power of mine I had no clue as to what else I could do; but if it was any similar to the serpent's then maybe I could save Amy and get rid of the serpent as well. Whatever my powers could do I just hoped that they would respond fast enough to end this.  
  
I admitted to Sonic that I didn't know what else to do afterwards and he groaned as expected.  
  
"Look bud, I'm not sure how you're used to doing things around here but when someone I know and care for is in trouble I can't waste a second trying to figure out what to do." he said.  
  
Sonic began to leave me probably heading towards my home to find Amy. Very foolish of him since he is under estimating the serpent's powers. I had to stop him.  
  
"Go ahead and rush in without something of a plan to work with. I can guarantee that without me you'll die." I warned the hedgehog.  
  
He stopped and realized that I was right. Then I went on with him towards my home. Maybe I could use this extra time we have to convince Sonic to work with me perhaps till the end taking a lot of pressure off of me. It wasn't really like me to ask for help but now that the serpent was getting more serious I had no other choice. My opportunity for this came when Sonic asked why Amy was so interested in me. I began to explain to him how we met and the bond we grew between each other. Judging by his facial expressions Sonic was beginning to see why it was so hard to keep me and Amy apart.  
  
Finally I had finished and Sonic had nothing to say except for his apology to me. I accepted it gratefully and then made my offer for him to become my ally.  
  
"Thanks for understanding my situation Sonic it seems like you're taking a whole new approach to me and with that I just want to ask for your assistance in helping me through this. I know that after all of our confrontations you'll want to decline, but it's not for long and. I really want to know what's inside the Mysterious Room that haunts me."  
  
There was silence between us; Sonic was thinking long and hard about this or maybe he was too busy worrying about Amy to even hear my question. He stopped me and looked at me seriously. I guess he didn't trust me that much.  
  
"Shadow I would be glad to help you out, I really would." Sonic answered. "But from what I've seen you're pretty much exposed to danger wherever you go and I can't work with that when it comes to Amy. So when we do save Amy from that snake that's the last time you'll probably see her."  
  
I knew it. My flaws and mishaps have come back to haunt me and it looked like my journey was going to last longer that I thought it would. or even throw me back to the way things were before I met Amy which was also another possible way to go. Anyways I was out of luck or so I thought had I not remembered Sonic's words during our fight.  
  
"I just want what's best for her."  
  
Those words echoed throughout my head and reminded me that my adversary and I did have some things in common. Like him I didn't like any corruption that would affect me. Like him I too was a skilled battler. Like him I wanted what was best for Amy and what was best for her at this point was not to get in the middle of my troubles. So there was hope for me meaning I would finally find out what that serpent doesn't want me to know. and what's inside the Mysterious Room.  
  
"Sonic your reason if justifiable but I remember that you want what's best for Amy. Turns out that I want the same for her as well and if that serves as our reason to work together, then we may have a chance at defeating that serpent." I explained.  
  
Sonic's ears perked up and a grin appeared on his face. I guess he was going to help me after all and we continued on to my home. Once we got there I went inside and hung up my coat. Sonic wandered around a bit while I went to the dining room and sat at the table. I looked back upon the days I spent alone here in my mental darkness before Amy came. It just seemed like that's the way I've lived life possibly forever without a past to dawn on.  
  
Now that so much has been revealed to me soon I'll find out about my forgotten past that'll hopefully trigger memories that have been locked away in my mind. I'll find out where I came from and even if I have or had a family. I'll finally conquer the power of the Mysterious Room releasing me from its curse and be at rest at last. Then Sonic and Amy can move on and put behind all that has happened in this darkened town.  
  
All was quiet and calm just the way I liked it until a crash was heard. It came from the empty room at the far end of the house and Sonic and I rushed to the scene. There she was, standing there with her emotionless face staring into our eyes. Amy made the first move leaping for Sonic. He moved out of her way and she landed and went for me instead. Her hand whipped by my face and three tiny cuts appeared with blood seeping out of them. I looked at her hands and they somehow became claws; the serpent's power was changing her. She dove towards me again hissing pushing me against the wall. I held her back with all my might as poison dripped from fangs that had grown in her mouth.  
  
Amy was knocked away by a piece of wood Sonic had thrown at her. I regrouped myself and prepared to attack. Amy staggered to her feet and with great speed charged at me again but Sonic rammed into her. They tumbled and stopped with Amy pinning Sonic down ready to bite him. I felt my powers surging through my body heating it up and held out a hand towards the pink hedgehog. Slowly her body rose into the air. Hmm. another hidden power accessed. Using my hand to control Amy I sent her out through the boarded up window and into the backyard.  
  
Pursuing through the window I scanned the backyard. No sign of Amy. Suddenly she came down on my back and choked me with a chain.  
  
"Why do you want to live Shadow? Your life has no point now so give it up. It's vital that you do so." she hissed in my ear.  
  
"Serpent I told you before and I'll say it again if I have to. I'm not stopping now!!" I retaliated.  
  
Using the chain to my advantage I flipped Amy over on her back snatching the chain from her. Quickly she stood up and proceeded to use the serpent's special powers to attack me. I defended with my own powers and retaliated with them as well. yet for some reason every time I used them I felt myself getting hotter. much hotter. Next thing I knew I was getting dizzy, everything became a blur and I slowed myself. I looked up at the pink blur ahead of me and suddenly saw a green flash. I used my powers to deflect it and that's what drove over my limit. My body began to burn horribly, everything was spinning and I yelled out in pain and then. darkness.  
  
Huh? What? Everything is red. What's going on? But wait. there's Amy my ally. and within her is that serpent. Get out of her right now!! I approached Amy and looked down on her. Seeing the serpent in her eyes angered me but it teased me through Amy, taunted me with her voice. Stop it!! Shut up!! She has nothing to do with this!! It's just me and you!! I swiped a claw at Amy but she dodged my attack and moved away. I spun around and followed her movements. Fire came from my mouth searing everything in its path but not Amy.  
  
The fire stopped and she attacked with a green lightning bolt that stood out among the red I saw. I blocked the attack with my wings and let out my mighty roar. Glaring back down at the small hedgehog she froze in place unable to move. I held out both of my claws at her and they glowed a bright red. Be gone evil serpent!! Leave her body!! Amy fell to her knees and cried out as a dark shadow shot from her body and reshaped into the serpent on the ground coiled up. As for Amy she fell to the ground unconscious the serpent looked up at me and hissed before seeping back into the ground. All is well. My friend is safe. for now. Lifting my head up I let out another powerful roar that echoed through the sky. and then fell into darkness. 


	15. Four: The Crow's Final Vision

Crimson Vision  
  
Chapter 15: Four: The Crow's Final Vision  
  
Its darkness, its fear, its last attack.  
  
I stand alone in darkness.  
  
It returns to me, its message now a dark omen.  
  
I am alone in darkness.  
  
Is this some kind of warning? Does it mean the end for me? No it can't be. I'll fight it till the end.  
  
I live alone in darkness.  
  
I know no one yet everyone knows me.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Everything was blurred, my head was aching and where exactly was I? Slowly I opened my eyes to a darkened room. I sat up and looked around, everything seemed familiar. A closer look and I realized I was in the one place I feared to be in. the Mysterious room. I scrambled to my feet searching for the door. I had to get out before. oh no it's starting. Those screams, those horrible screams piercing my ears. The angry voices were blaming me again and I dropped to the ground shouting at them.  
  
"Stop!! Please stop!! I did nothing to deserve this!!"  
  
More and more voices filled my head and I curled up to protect myself from them. How could one be blamed like this? It was just inhumane yet deep down inside I found some pleasure in all of this yelling as if I deserved it. Among all of the voices and screams I could hear a faint sound of someone banging on the door and yelling my name.  
  
"Shadow! Shadow what's going on!?" the voice sounded.  
  
I recognized it as Sonic's. Could he not hear all of the angry voices yelling at me? They were right there clear as a bell and yet he could not hear them. I screamed one more time and that's when Sonic came in and helped me up. Quickly we left the room and went down the stairwell and that's when the voices faded away. We stopped in the hallway allowing me to take a rest against the wall.  
  
"Shadow are you ok? What the heck happened to you in there?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I don't know Sonic." I answered. "Where did Amy run off to now? I'd like to get a piece of that serpent once its out of her."  
  
Sonic looked at me baffled. I returned the same look at him wondering why he was looking at me that way.  
  
"Don't you remember? You drove that snake out of Amy last night and then just disappeared. I spent all day looking for you." he said.  
  
I lost my memory again. I had no idea what he was talking about and really didn't care now that I know Amy is safe from that serpent.  
  
"You changed into this huge monster and just used your powers on that snake. It shot out of Amy and she fell unconscious and that's the last I saw you." Sonic explained some more.  
  
"And it's been a whole day since that happened?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
I pushed myself off the wall and slowly walked down the steps. Sonic stayed behind me just incase I fell and we walked into the main room where Amy was lying on the couch. I stopped and looked at the girl and a strange feeling came across my heart. Gently I grabbed my chest as that feeling came and went, another rare emotion. Then I took a chair and sat next to Amy and looked upon her with sadness. Her fail body lied there motionless almost dead setting me in an uneasy state. I brushed away her hair and she moved mumbling something.  
  
"She's been like that all day, in an out mumbling things. I'm not sure why but it might be an after shock of what that snake did to her."  
  
I got a cover from another chair and pulled it over on Amy.  
  
"Stay by her." I told Sonic.  
  
I left those two and went down to the cellar. Everything was going as I hoped it would and as soon I could build enough courage to go into the Mysterious room this would all be over. Down in the cellar I tried to open up a draw on the file cabinet that was in the corner. It was stuck; I had an extra pack of cigs in there and was in need of one. One swift kick at the bottom and the top draw opened up. I took out the pack, lit a cigarette, and puffed out a light smoke. I had my ways of building up courage, this was one of them. I tried to think of the benefits of going into the Mysterious room but there weren't that many. Sure I would know about my past but what would I do for my future afterwards? This was another difficult task but I'll get over it.  
  
I was about halfway through the cigarette when I heard the cellar door open. Quickly I threw the cig onto the ground and mashed it out just as Sonic came down.  
  
"Eww, smells like smoke down here." he commented a bit disgusted.  
  
"It never goes away." I lied. "What brings you down here?"  
  
"What's next, that's what. Amy's no longer possessed by that snake so now what?"  
  
"Upstairs. I'm gonna try and get into that room without killing myself. I'm going outside so if you need me you know where I'll be."  
  
Silently I left the house and went into the front yard. The wind blew lightly making it seem like the days before this whole mess. Almost everything reminded me of those days, how I missed them so much. Now preparing to enter a new era of my life I had to look back on those times I had alone with my figment friends. Life was simple for me considering my nightly routine I had. Go out, feast on a few, and come back home. Nothing more unless someone gave me trouble. Then there were those times I woke up with no memory of last night. Those were the times I wanted to forget.  
  
I enjoyed my meditation time until the sound of flapping wings flew by my ear. That crow had come back. here we go again. I was getting the feeling that the serpent and the crow were doing some sort of tag team play on me. Makes me wish I could do the same with Sonic then I wouldn't have to deal with these morbid visions. The bird landed on the same tree it did when I first met it. We stared at each other this time he didn't scare me so easily.  
  
"What do you have to show me now?" I asked it.  
  
It cawed loudly in response and once again I found myself staring into its eyes and then the vision began. The ground beneath my feet vanished and I was falling through nothing. This nothing appeared to go on for ages but I fell through some sort of cloud and had landed soon afterwards. I lifted my head and was looking down a dark path with no signs of life on it. A rumbling sound came from behind mea and became louder and louder by the second. I stood up looking for what was making the sound. Suddenly a monstrous face emerged from the darkness frightening me. A claw slammed into the ground next to me and I was forced to run.  
  
I took off down the empty road using the jets on my shoes. Suddenly obstacles of all kinds appeared in front of me. Pits full of molten lava exploded in my path but I dodged them and escaped. I entered into the forest with the beast still following me and thorn branches shot out at me trying to cut me and slow me down but I was quick and moved about them suffering only a few cuts here and there and I continued on. Once out of the forest a storm was over my head and all sorts of things rained down upon me. Lightning, rocks, and monsters of all sorts. but relief came when I heard two voices that I knew.  
  
"Hang on Shadow! We're coming!" Sonic's voiced echoed from my right.  
  
I looked to my right and there was Sonic running towards me.  
  
"I'm here for you Shadow!" Amy's voice echoed from the darkness.  
  
Over on my left the pink hedgehog was running towards me as well. As they caught up with me they blocked off all the aggressive attacks that were aiming for me. I felt so much safer and more confident with them by my side. The three of us continued on, nothing could stop us. Finally on the horizon a light appeared, that must've been our way of escaping out of this nightmare. Closer and closer we came to the light. Our hopes were getting higher and higher. but as quick as relief came it left just as fast. Something emerged out of the ground grabbing Sonic and Amy. I stopped and spun around to see my allies. They were being held up by some sort of branch and the monster that was chasing us had come to a stop.  
  
It looked down upon me breathing out a puff of fire singed smoke. I wiped away the cloud and the monster grinned at me and roared in my face loudly. Then it stood up and held back its claw. It was going to attack but I couldn't move. I was frozen and terrified; my friends couldn't save me, I couldn't save myself. I was going to die in a nightmare. but it was just that. A nightmare so I would wake up right before the end right? The monster took a swipe at me and there was a scorching pain coming from my stomach. I looked down and the cut I had was steaming with smoke; this was very real.  
  
I panicked even more, I wanted to wake up, I tried. But nothing seemed to work. The monster prepared to attack me again but suddenly I was knocked over by someone. My eyes opened and there was Sonic lying next to me.  
  
"Nice try snake but you're not getting him that easily!" he shouted.  
  
The serpent?! Where!? I could've sworn it was the crow that was giving me that horrible nightmare. I saw the serpent stand up using its body and it hissed spraying a green liquid at us. I blocked the attack using my powers and tried to stand up withstanding the pain in my stomach. Perhaps it was too much but that wouldn't stop me. The serpent sprayed more of its poisonous venom at me and countered attacked with a blast of fire. I was unlocking more secret powers. I was becoming more powerful. But in my rapid attack against the serpent I had drove it away and now the crow was left.  
  
It flew into the air and made rapid kamikaze attacks at me and Sonic. That thing was fast but Sonic stopped it immediately. He had picked up a sharp piece of wood and hurled it at the crow. The wood went straight through the bird, blood and feathers flew everywhere and it dropped to the ground motionless. Then it disappeared as a gentle gust of wind blew by. That was the end of the crow, no more frightening and life threatening illusions. All that was left to take care of was the serpent, that's a different game itself.  
  
I tried to stand up straight but the pain in my stomach held me back. I fell and Sonic came to my aid.  
  
"What happened?" I asked him weakly.  
  
"I don't know. When I came out here that snake was taking hits at you like you were some kind of target. Those two were double teaming you from what it looked like." Sonic examined my wound and winced from its appearance.  
  
I laid on my back and stared into the dark sky. That was it, no more wasting time contemplating over it. It was way past my time to go into the Mysterious room; I had to conquer it now. 


	16. Three: Within the Mysterious Room

Crimson Vision

Chapter 16: Three: Within the Mysterious Room

My conquered fears, my past revealed, my previous life.

I stand alone in darkness.

Was it right for me to venture up here? Was it right for me to learn the truth?

I am alone in darkness.

I came here for answers and it's answers that I'll find. But perhaps some things were meant to stay hidden….. but it's too late for that now.

I live alone in darkness.

I know no one yet everyone knows me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Amy, after all that we've been through I can't say anything more than thank you for your support. You mean so much to me now I….."

I stopped and bent my head. I couldn't go on but the words were right in my heart. It's just the memories of seeing her possessed by the serpent made me feel guilty, that I should've kept a better watch on her. But the creature was gone out of her and she was safe. As I sat next to Amy, who was on the couch and awake, I began to shake from my regret. The thought of losing Amy was stronger than I thought it would be. I felt her grab hold of my hand and she gazed at me with her soft eyes.

"Go on." she whispered.

"You mean so much to me now I couldn't bear seeing you at the mercy of something like the serpent. Therefore I've decided that now is the time to end this….. I'm going up to the Mysterious room and this time I gonna make it." I explained.

A slight smile appeared on her exhausted face. I smiled in return and slowly stood up carefully trying not to upset my stomach wound that was bandaged up.

"Don't worry about me Amy," I told her. "I'll be ok."

As I turned to leave I heard Amy getting up from the couch. I looked back and tried to stop her but she held out a hand stopping me. I watched her as she slowly pushed up her frail body and was on her feet. Then, step by step, Amy made her way over to me and held onto me for support. She looked into my eyes with some kind of hope and then, without warning, she gave me a kiss on my cheek. I was shocked with this being my first kiss ever given to me as far as I know. My heart seemed to jumped and left me stiffened like a statue. I felt Amy's arms wrap around me and unsure as to what to do I wrapped my arms around her as well.

We broke apart after a few seconds and Amy looked at me again with her hope filled eyes.

"Stay strong." she spoke.

I nodded and turned continuing on towards the steps. Upon approaching them Sonic was right around the corner and just stood in his place smirking at me. I looked at him a bit confused yet interested in what he was thinking. He then held up thumb towards me and nodded; he wanted to wish me good luck which was the last thing I expected from him. Nonetheless I took his encouragement and slowly began my trek up the dark stairs. The feeling of going up there was as if I was leaving my home behind and was venturing into new uncharted lands filled with untold secrets waiting just for me. The wisdom and strength of my friends burned brightly inside of me and my ever-growing courage strengthened with every step I took.

Finally I had reached the top of the stairs and looked back down at Sonic still holding that smirk on his face. I took a deep breath and approached the doorway wielding the staircase that lead up to the Mysterious room. My hand opened it and I disappeared inside. The door slowly closed and it was just me and the staircase; at the top was another door and on the other side were the answers I was searching for. I took a step and hesitated. I had to prepare myself for the pain I would endure, I had to be able to withstand it. Then in a last breath I began to travel up the stairs and halfway up the voices began to attack.

They shouted angrily at me but I did not stop, they cursed me but I did not break down. Then there was that small voice, it began to creep in through all the chaos that was going on in my head and it's innocence and vulnerable sound struck my heart. It reminded me too much of Amy and how she was yesterday but that was the past. I couldn't let the voice get to me because I saw Amy stand strong right in front of my eyes just moments ago. The pleading voice would not stop me and I continued on up the stairs. The voices began to get louder, harsher; the pleading voice begged to me over and over again:

"Please don't. You can't."

But it was wrong. I can and will do this and no one had the right to stop me! I charged up the stairs and the voice turned into a ear piercing scream that made me stop in my tracks.

"_Just a few more steps._" I reminded myself mentally.

I leapt up and made it to the final step, the voices stopped, and looked back down the dark staircase. I had gotten past the first part of my challenge. Now for the second and hopefully final part, getting into the room itself. My heart raced as I prepared to grab the doorknob remembering what happened the last time I did. I couldn't become fearful at the last minute, I could not stand down. I thought of Amy again and her strength inspired to go on even if it meant withstanding horrible unspeakable pain. Forcefully I held the doorknob and sudden rush of heat coursed through my body.

On the outside I burned horribly and dispite how much it hurt I did not scream, I would not scream. That was understood of how weak I was but I was no longer that weak being anymore. I was stronger with new powers, powers that I could use to defend myself and that's what I did. I searched deep within me for any sort of power that would defend me from this torture of fire and suddenly the burning decreased. I opened my eyes and saw that a red light of some sort protected my body as if it was a shield against the fire. More proof that I was becoming stronger. I opened the door slowly and for the first time in ages gazed into the darkness of the Mysterious room without any trouble.

The furniture was covered with its tan sheets as usual and then there was the covered portrait that hung on the wall on the far side of the room. It didn't look any different when compared to the vague memories but getting a closer look to the details of the room….. they looked familiar to me. Suddenly I began to get this feeling within me, that I've been here before. Every piece of furniture stirred my brain, everywhere I looked there seemed to be something pushing it's way into my head….. but what? Cautiously I walked around and examined the room, I felt very comfortable and just moved about as if this was my room.

But then the covered portrait caught my attention. I sensed some sort of power within it drawing me near it. I stared at it slowly becoming larger and larger and then I realized I was walking towards the picture. I had no control over my body, it slowly approached the portrait and my hand reached out to it. I became afraid of what I would find under the cover as my hand grew near it. Finally it grabbed onto the cover and ripped it off. Dust filled the air and I fanned it away covering my face. When the dust cleared I took a look at the portrait….. had I entered heaven?

On there was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her skin was soft and her green eyes stood out like emeralds in the dark. She had long blonde hair flowing down her back and a gentle smile on her face that made me feel welcome into the room. The light blue dress she wore made her seem alive and well unlike the room….. but then I took a glance next to the girl and saw myself. I blinked twice and rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Sure enough there I was sitting next the angel-like girl depressing the picture with my dark ominous colors and a half smile on my face. But….. never in my entire life did I even know of this girl's existence; well at least in the life that I know about.

I stepped away from the picture now confused and unsure as to where I was anymore. This room no longer felt familiar to me and a fear grew inside of me. I stumbled on some boxes behind me sending me to the floor. Still caught in my daze of confusion I stared up at the ceiling blankly. How could all of this make any sense? With that portrait thrown into the mix it set everything out of balance, including me. I had almost become lost within my own thoughts had not a certain hissing noise rang in my ear.

I shot up and looked all around me and in the darkest corner I spotted the serpent's green eyes glaring at me. It slithered from the shadows and approached me as I stood up. We met each other eye to eye, no words were spoken but it almost seemed like we were reading each other's minds. Suddenly a screeching squawk came from behind me.

"_No, it couldn't be_." I thought.

Taking a peek over my shoulder I saw the crow swoop towards me and over my head. It landed next to the serpent who began to smirk at my bewildered look. This wasn't possible there was no way. I watched with my own eyes Sonic murdering the crow and yet here it is right here alive and well….. of course! Why should I be surprised considering the crow had powers just like the serpent so anything is possible with that vile bird.

"So I see you have made it Shadow, well done." the serpent addressed me. "But are you sure you want to know everything? It could bring back memories….. terrible ones might I add."

"How many times must I tell you this damn it. Nothing is going to stop me not even at this point. So get on with it and tell me everything that I want to know." I replied seriously.

"Whatever you say but I must warn you, what you see from here on is no trick, what you read from here on is no trick, what you feel from here on is no trick." the serpent informed me.

I remained silent and the serpent slithered past me and stood behind an empty mirror frame. The crow flew over landing in front of the serpent and the reptile wrapped itself around its fowl companion with its body upright.

"Come to the front of the frame and see what you've been fighting." the serpent hissed.

Cautiously and mindfully I approached the front side of the mirror frame keeping my eye on the serpent and the crow. I pondered what the creature meant when it said 'what I've been fighting' and as I stepped in front of the frame it became even more confusing. There I was, Shadow the Hedgehog, standing in front of what was obviously a mirror-less frame looking at….. myself. There was much more to this than I thought sending any theories I had out the window. My double stepped through the frame and smirked at me evilly. He paced around me and I kept a sharp eye on him.

"Shocked, scared, surprise? All of these and more are coursing through your mind right now Shadow." my double spoke in a dark tone. "But I bet you're wondering what I— or should I say you have to do with all of this. It's very simple. You're the reason you should die, you're the reason the serpent and crow exist."

He stopped in front of me and stared at me menacingly; I returned the look as well.

"You're the reason you're fate is approaching quickly. Let's face it Shadow, you dug out your own grave and now all you have to do is lay in it and die." he said.

This was all mind-boggling and I needed answers, not blames. That was the only reason I came up here.

"Say what you want about me, all I want to know is why is this happening to me? What brought me here?" I asked.

My double reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a small book. He tossed it to me and I caught it and began to look it over. The dust that covered it caused its white color to fade to a dirty gray color. It appeared to have had a lock on it which might have broken off meaning it was some kind of personal journal of some sort.

"It's her diary. Read the last three entries and everything will become more clear to you." my double informed me.

So I took heed to his advice, opened up the diary, and began to read it.


	17. Two: Diary of the Forgotten

Crimson Vision

Chapter 17: Two: Diary of the Forgotten

Untold truth, untold story, renewed feelings.

I stand alone in darkness.

I feel her sorrow and her pain, my heart weeps as if I knew her.

I am alone in darkness.

Memories return, memories that I fear greatly. Perhaps this was too much for me to handle; perhaps it is too late to go back.

I live alone in darkness.

I know no one yet everyone knows me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

__

June 9

Dear Diary,

We have finally reached my grandfather's summer house. Although it's a bit isolated from the nearby town it's a wonderful place to relax and just think about all the great things that are out there in the world. This may seem like an ordinary trip to the summer house but this time it's special. Grandfather has decided that Shadow, his project, is ready to interact with others and has brought him with us to the house. This would mean that I will have someone to talk to and keep me company if none of the children in town would want to know me. Sometimes I think that it's best that we're out here and secluded, I feel as if Shadow and I are in our own world where nothing could go wrong.

Some of grandfather's colleagues feel that bringing Shadow here away from the lab is too dangerous. They fear he might transform into his beast form like he did a few months ago just after he was created. But I believe that Shadow will not, he seemed to have realized all the damage and pain he had cause during those attacks and now tries to keep himself calm and relaxed. He knows that we are all like family and he tells me that he would do anything he can to not break up this 'family'. I trust Shadow and I know that he will keep his word and not destroy us for he is my friend.

June 22

Dear Diary,

The past few weeks here have been a bit busy just with settling in but now that everything is all unpacked Shadow and I now have time to dream about what's beyond the forest behind the house or even play around outside. He's shown signs that the other scientist can trust him and not live in fear of being around Shadow. He's helped out with the cleaning, gardening, and even helped grandfather with some of his work although I tell grandfather not to bring any here. We came here to get away from that and just spend time together enjoying the summer atmosphere. He's become very fond of Shadow and even treats my friend like he's my brother. Shadow tells me that the feeling of being accepted is wonderful and he wouldn't want to lose it.

Shadow, grandfather, and I have gone out on a few outings into the town. Every trip we would take would be like an adventure for Shadow discovering what things are and what certain places are as well. Grandfather would answer each of Shadow's questions of things he did not know about and just watching Shadow full of curiosity made the outing more fun. It was such a great feeling knowing that Shadow was learning about the world this way, by way of his family. It would help strengthen his bond between us and eventually Shadow will do something for all of us in return.

Today we had another outing and Shadow learned about a few places he should avoid and seemed interested about the graveyard on the other side of town. But now all of that is behind us. With dinner eaten and everyone off to their rooms for the night Shadow and I stayed up a bit late conversing about the graveyard. He asked why people died and what it was like to die. Me, not knowing much about death, explained to Shadow my theory on death. I saw it as leaving the world you knew behind and entering a new one where you are lonely and have very little friends. My theory seemed depressed and darkened so I decided that we should stop and go to sleep ourselves

Now he's fast asleep on his bed that's next to mine. Just looking at him and thinking about his interest in death made me wonder if this was how he was going to grow. If it was I feared for his future and hoped that he would change soon.

July 15

Dear Diary

Something terrible has happened. Shadow must have been aggravated by someone again and has transformed into his beast form. He's gone into town and terrorized the people there. Here at the house grandfather and his colleagues are quickly working on gathering the sedative to rest Shadow. Grandfather has sent me and a colleague of his up to his study at the top of the house. Now we're here waiting for grandfather and the others to return with Shadow hopefully encapsulated and rested. Perhaps bringing Shadow here was wrong after all… but he promised to me that he would not do this.

I remember back in the laboratory facility Shadow told me that he promised me that he would do whatever he can to try not to transform into the beast. I knew he was sincere and honest about his promise, I could see it in his eyes. He then went on and said that if he did transform into the beast he would do whatever he could to prevent it from happening ever again or even prevent himself from becoming his true form. Shadow was honest and true to every word he spoke. Why did it have to happen? Why?

But whatever happens I just hope that no one is harmed or even killed in this— Oh no! Grandfather and his colleagues are trying to fight off Shadow. It seems like he's become too powerful for them to handle and— no! It can't be!! …..Shadow killed grandfather. Shadow why? After all that you said to me it seemed like you would change for good, but I guess I was

That was it; the entry stopped there. What looked like dried up bloodstains were all over the page and I….. was at a lost for words. Sudden emotions struck my heart that caused me to feel a pain that I, for some reason, recognized. It felt like my heart was torn in two, I gripped my chest dropping the dairy and breathed deeply. This strange new emotion hurt me both physically and mentally digging deep into my heart. I couldn't think of anything else but guilt. It was if my mind was locked on it.

I looked over at my double who just smirked at me. This was some sort of trick he was pulling on me. I just knew it.

"What….. are you doing?" I asked nearly out of breath.

"What am I doing? Absolutely nothing. Your memory is coming back that's all that's happening." he replied. "Besides I said that everything you see, read, and feel are no tricks of mine. So this is all real Shadow. Kinda regret getting so deep into this don't you?"

Regret was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to kill that replica of me and make sure that he didn't return. I leapt out towards him and grabbed his neck. Slowly I lifted him up off his feet but he still held that smirk on his face.

"Killing me won't do you any good. You created me to be indestructible. That's what you wanted and now that you're memory is coming back maybe that'll convince you to let me finish my only purpose of existing." he said to me.

"Never!" I shouted at him. "It's not going to end like this. Not now or ever! I'll make sure of it!"


	18. One: Last Chance A Curse at Rest

Crimson Vision

Chapter 18: One: Last Chance; A Curse at Rest

My final hour, my final thoughts, yet peace at last.

I stand alone in darkness.

It ended this way; it ended for the better.

I am alone in darkness.

I leave this world in anguish with no good-bye's. I leave my loved one behind… how I wish I had told her.

I live alone in darkness.

I know no one yet everyone knows me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was thrown against the wall by my twin. He charged towards me but I countered his attack with a swift punch to his stomach. I screamed at him as I continued to attack the imposture with numerous attacks, all that should've knocked him out cold. But after the barrage of attacks ended he was still standing with a few cuts on his face… and that damn smirk as well. I wanted to wipe it off for good.

"Stop fighting against what's right Shadow." he said to me. "Stop fighting against what's just and true. You know you deserve it; that's why you're fighting so much. You want it all to go away but the past will always come back to haunt you."

Shut up. Shut up you deceiver! You liar full of tricks! Stay out of my head!! It was too much for me to take, all the guilt and anguish. I found myself charging at my double and throwing him into the pile of junk near the wall but I didn't stop there. I picked up a piece of broken wood and began to beat him with it. Swing after swing, bashing and bashing him. My eyes watch blood pour out from various cuts and gashes on his face and body. I even may have broken a bone or two but the most peculiar about all of this was that he never screamed, cried out in pain, or even wince in between my attacks. It was as if he was allowing me to hurt him… and it became my opportunity to end it all.

I threw aside the prickly wood now covered in blood and lifted up my opponent. My eyes wandered over to a boarded up window nearby and thoughts of death and horrible pain filled my head. This would be the perfect sentence for my tormentor; this would be a perfect death for him. I built up enough strength to hurl him through the boards and out of my vision. My breath was rapid and slowly I approached the window and peered down into the backyard. There he was lying lifeless on the ground. I could see a few of his injuries had worsened because of the impact. Seconds later I felt myself free-falling towards my opponent and landed next to him.

My head tilted as I looked down upon his injured body. The blood the poured out all over him reminded me of the peaceful and dark nights I once had. The nights of when I would randomly search out my victims and feed off of them. Now I could see those nights returning to me once again once I had taken out the only thing standing in my way. My eyes glowed of a menacing red color and I grinned with my fangs showing preparing to take one last hit on my opponent. But his eyes opened up almost immediately and I stepped back. He smirked and soon was on his feet running away into the forest. But I chased after him.

He was going slow… too slow. I was able to catch up with him easily. Why was he giving in like this? Is this some sort of trap for me? Who cares, I caught him and now he'll never get away. I had grabbed his hand and swung him around me slamming him into a tree. As he slumped to the ground a blood spot was left on the tree from the back of his head. My double tried to get up but I kicked him in the face knocking him over. Repeatedly I kicked him in the stomach and he coughed up more blood. Stupid ass. How dare you try to kill me, I have more power than you. I am the one who stalks you in the night! I am your nightmare!

One last kick sent him rolling across the ground and laying face up. I approached him gathering energy in my hand and held it out to him. Thoughts of Maria flowed through my mind; my heart began to ache over her death. No longer will I take this shit. A blast of fire attack my double and scorched and bloody burns were now all over his torso. I prepared to attack again when suddenly I was tackled down. My eyes closed shut upon impact and when I opened them there he was. My twin with his blood dripping down onto me and with that stupid smirk on his face. I noticed his hand was lifted up and green energy was gathering into it. I had to react fast.

I kick him off of me but he still continued to gather energy as I put distance between us. Finally he released it in a powerful blast that would've hit me had I not fallen at the last second. The green energy slowly faded away and I sprung to my feet ready to strike back; but he was quicker. A shadow-like rope wrapped around my neck and my double began to pull me in like some ranch animal. I tried to break free of the rope but it was too strong. I became short of breath and was gasping for air. Everything was spinning, my head felt light but I could still see my opponent still smirking at me. He's not gonna win this one.

A red blast shot out of my hand burning through the rope. One loud snap and I stumbled back into a tree still eyeing my opponent. He apparently threw another shadow attack of some sort at me and I dodged it and charged towards him. My body collided with him and while he was on his back I held my hand against his face. Slowly smoke began to rise from my hand as a sizzling sound was heard. It became louder and louder the longer I held onto my twin. But not a word was uttered from his mouth. He laid there as if nothing was happening. Just exactly what was this immortal creature? Even with so many gashed and bruises and maybe even a broken bone he still was in perfect condition.

I was growing tired of trying to make him suffer. Death had to come now. I stood up releasing my hand from his face. A dark bloody handprint was imprinted on him and he opened his eyes and stared at me once more… along with that sickening smirk. A red whip formed in my hand and I began to strike that lair with it over and over. But with each hit visions flashed in my head. Visions of… Maria. Her fearful eyes of the final moments of her life stared at me with a sense of begging. Her voice echoed in my head and my heart began to ache. But I couldn't stop; I was one step closer to freedom from my curse. One step closer to freedom from my fears and pains. One step closer to freedom from my past.

The condition of my double worsened as I continued to attack him and then… I just stopped. My hand holding the energy-made whip froze in mid-air; it was like some sort of spell was placed on me. My thoughts were unclear but what I saw through my eyes was clear as the night sky above me.

Everything around me was red, blurred, and distorted. I was moving through the streets of the small town, voices screaming on my left and right as beings ran away from me. I seemed to be heading back towards my home either running in fear or running to Maria. But I felt… angry. I didn't know why but I was raging with anger and had the need to kill someone who had made me mad. I passed through the familiar gate that was in front of the house and in front of the house was a being. He looked old and fragile with dark spectacles and a large mustache on his face. Then it came to me… Professor Gerald. The first person I saw when I brought to life.

As happy as I was to see him again I didn't feel that way. My anger was still high and I could see the fear on his face as I approached him slowly. In a distorted voice he said 'Stay where you are Shadow. It's me, Prof. Gerald. I'm here to help you.' I wanted to stand still but for some reason I advanced upon him and saw a mighty claw take a slash at him. Droplets of blood flew through the air along with his voice as it screamed and then slowly faded away. The Prof. was dead at my feet and I wanted to help him but my attention was adverted up to the top of the house where the Mysterious room stood.

I could see Maria's face in the window and then disappeared. I had to go and see her and in a blur of red light I was in the Mysterious room. Maria, finally I can see you again in all your glory, embrace you on my arms and stay there forever… but why do you look at me in such a terrified manner? I thought I was your friend.

"Please Shadow, stay calm! Grandfather was only trying to help!" her voice spoke distorted as well.

I knew that Maria but I couldn't stop what was happening. Why can't you hear me? Don't you hear the words I'm saying to you? Maria! Once again my actions became uncontrollable and I roared loudly like some sort of monster and then glared back at Maria. I charged at her and as she came closer and closer I tried everything I could to stop. MARIA!! She was thrown across the room into the wall, bloody scars were on her back and she was crying. Unable to control anything I watched the horror as I mangled and destroyed my dearest friend I ever had. My heart was crumbling up with every scar that was made; I couldn't take it anymore.

Finally it stopped and I could barley make out Maria among all the red I saw. My head tilted up and mighty roar was heard as everything fell dark. My eyes blinked and there I was back in the forest with my opponent still lying on the ground with all of his injuries. My whip had disappeared and slowly my hand came down to my side as the pain in my heart grew. Clutching my chest I dropped to my knees and tears fell out of my eyes like a strong downpour. Having to watch my friend die a horrific death broke my pride, my strength, my courage. I was too weak to move and remained on my knees crying the guilt and pain out of me. But that all faded away when I hear him laughing.

I looked up and my double was on his feet again just laughing at me and my weakness.

"I told you so." he spoke. "You wanted so you got it. Are you happy Shadow? Are you satisfied with knowing you're the reason why your life is like this? I could've made it easier if you didn't fight back so much but you had to know. What do you have to say now?"

Somewhere throughout his little speech it hit me in the head that he's the reason everything has happened to me. He's the one to blame not me. He had to suffer. After all of his taunting of me killing Maria he had no right to speak of her death as if it was a meaningless event of the past. It meant everything to me, it cost me everything and everyone I knew so he has no right to taunt it and degrade it in such a manner. He has no right to degrade Maria… no one does! So no mercy shall be held upon him!!

My rage grew quickly back to where it was once more and I attacked with my sudden burst of energy. Red streaks collided with my opponent causing him to stumble back. I continued to attack more as the red lights of energy erupted into bursts of fire and flames. My eyes began to glow red as I attacked my twin with blast of scorching fire and my strength grew along with my anger. Another hit and he was thrown against another tree but stood his ground shakily. Our eyes met and a flame surrounded my right hand. Not wasting anymore time I charged at him shouting out in anger and pushed my ignited hand through his chest.

Finally a look of pain and regret fell upon his face and I was satisfied. But he struggled to get in what seemed to be a half smile before turning completely black like ash falling apart to the ground as dust. That was the end of him; that was the end of my curse and now I could rest. I heard footsteps come from behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see Sonic approaching me. He looked down by the tree at the pile of dust and then back at me again.

"He's finished." I said smiling, something I rarely did.

Sonic returned a smile at me but was suddenly distracted by something behind me on the horizon. I turned and could see the changing colors of the sky. It was almost morning! I must've been out here for the whole night battling my true enemy. But instead of rushing back to my domicile I took a few steps forward past the tree I was near and took in the beautiful colors. A memory rushed back into my mind of when Maria and I watched the sun rise one morning. The colors were so awakening and alive enticing others just to get up and see it. While gazing at the colors that slowly changed I felt an even greater comfort within my heart. A comfort that probably would've never been felt had I not gone on this search for my past.

Everything around me seemed to brighten up as if I was waking up from a horrible dream. I began to hear sounds that I haven't heard in ages. I was returning to the life I once lived and then it happened. I felt a great burning all over my body as if it was on fire. Sonic shouted my name but I was unable to answer. The burning continued and I shouted out in pain. Why?! Why is this happening to me?! I'm supposed to be free from this curse! I had freedom right in the palm of my hand but why now?! I could feel the bones in my body beginning to melt and move as if they were going to reshape themselves. I looked down at my hands and realized my whole body was glowing red. Then my vision went crimson as well. Was this how I transformed into that beast from my vision?

I wasn't quite sure but that was the last thought that went through my mind before I heard two air shattering shots of a gun being fired. At the same time my breathing froze and my body stiffened up as I fell to my stomach. There was an unbearable pain in my chest and I could hear Sonic shouting at someone. All I wanted to know was who did it? Who was the one that shot me? Slowly with the little strength I had I turned myself over to see the last one I expected it to be… Amy. Tears were running down her face as she held up a silver pistol aimed at my head. I glanced over at Sonic who was against a tree obviously afraid of Amy shooting him. But Amy sobbed getting my attention and I had to know why.

"Why… Amy?" I barely spoke.

"It's what you wanted Shadow. I'm just being a good friend." she replied sadly.

Her finger rested onto the trigger and she pulled it…

__

Wow… so that's how it ends for Shadow. But don't go off thinking that this is the end. There are still two more chapters to come as the denouement or the conclusion to tie-up a few loose ends of 'Crimson Vision'. See ya then!


	19. Journal of Truth

Crimson Vision

Chapter 19: Journal of Truth

Sonic was left speechless. He had just witnessed Amy, a kind girl of innocence and pure of heart, murder Shadow in such a cold manner. It was hard for him to move from the shock and Amy was in a state no better than Sonic. Tears flooded down from her eyes and slowly her hands began to tremble. The silver pistol dropped to the ground and then Amy fell crying in her hands. Sonic approached her slowly kneeling down to her said and patting her back.

"Why Amy?" he asked. "Why'd you kill him?"

The pink hedgehog lifted her head and stared at Sonic with her grieving eyes. She was still a bit pale from the serpent's attack on her but was slowly regaining her strength. Amy moved closer to Sonic wrapping his arms around him and wept some more.

"I had to Sonic." she managed to say. "It's what he wanted and… and if I didn't… we would probably be dead by now."

Amy continued to cry as Sonic held her close. He didn't understand fully but he knew that there had to have been some way Amy could've found out about this unknown information. Without saying a word Sonic picked up Amy and took one last look at Shadow's corpse. Blood was running out of his head from where the gun had hit him. His eyes were shut and his body had a cold appearance to it. Sonic shook off the uneasy feeling and headed back for the old house. One inside he took Amy to the living room and sat her down on the couch. Morning was beginning to breakthrough the cracks in the boarded up windows. Sonic handed Amy a handkerchief and she wiped her face with it.

"What are you going on about Amy? I'm not understanding this at all." Sonic said.

Amy sighed and picked up what looked like an old log book off the coffee table in front of them. Silently she handed it to Sonic still wiping her tears.

"When we went up to the room to see what happened to Shadow I found this on the floor." she said. "I read a few entries… and it explained how Shadow was created. It seemed to belong to someone named Professor Gerald."

Sonic didn't reply but opened the journal and began to read a few entries.

__

November 12; 12:15 AM

After spending almost 2 years on this project my colleagues and I have finally finished. Using our great technology and our extensive knowledge of different power sources of the world we may have created what can only be described as the perfect creature. Bearing such powers that cannot be matched and an intelligent mind that can think for itself I'd have to say this is my most prized creation and I will cherish it till I die. Although we weren't able to give it any information on anything we hope it's learning capabilities are sharp and quick so that it can pick up on anything easily.

Right now it's still inactive in it's capsule. I feel that everyone here in the institute should see the awakening of it and experience the joy I will have along with my colleagues and my granddaughter. A name I have not decided on yet but perhaps Maria can think of one tomorrow. For now I'll just let it rest in my mind and hope all goes well tomorrow.

November 13; 6:30 PM

The awakening of our project was a success. After I demonstrated to the audience the project's learning capabilities and other powers it harnessed we had placed him back into the capsule. Maria properly named him Shadow for his red and black colors and right away I could see that those two would grow a strong bond together. I've taken into consideration that Shadow could serve as a sibling to Maria whenever he's not helping out in the laboratory. It's for the best seeing how ill Maria is. She's not in the best state to be running around outside with other children making friends and having her locked up inside the institute like this puts a burden on my heart. Perhaps a trip to my summer cottage this summer is called for. That way Shadow can learn more about human life and Maria can get out some more. That seems to be what they both need.

November 30; 4:47 PM

Just a couple of weeks ago on the night of Shadow's awakening something terrible had happened. It seems that Shadow had transformed into some sort of beast-like monster and destroyed the lab. But we were able to stop him before too much damage was made and he was placed back into his capsule. There was a fright among the those who lived within the institute. Some were angry at me and approached me saying they would leave if that beast attacked again. But of all the alarmed people there were Maria was my only concern. She was terrified of the fact that Shadow could change into such a monster. I wasn't sure if she took it well but Maria seems to be recovering from it. In any case I'll have a few others look into the matter and see what could've caused such a transformation.

December 9; 8:15 AM

After some heavy research over the past few days we've learned that Shadow's anger is what caused his transformation. It appears that whenever Shadow's blood pressure rise his body temperature doe as well. Thus causing him to transform into that beast although… this all could've been predicted long before Shadow was awakened. I remember back when the first version of Shadow was made.

I recall not being there at the time but my colleagues informed me that he was a very large creature. They did try to bring Shadow to life but he had so much power within him it caused him to be very aggressive. So they put him in a smaller less intimidating form hopefully a form that would be able to hold Shadow's true form. But after this incident I fear that we may have created something that not even we would be able to handle unless we took dire precautions.

December 9; 7;05 PM

New information has just developed about Shadow's transformation. It appears that his powers have risen since and there's no way of lowering them without removing some of Shadow's powers. My colleagues are urging that we remove some of Shadow's abilities even though we have no control over which ones are removed. But I'll stand my ground and refuse to. He is my creation, my pride and joy, he is also the new friend of my granddaughter. How can I take something so dear away from her? She would be heartbroken if something went wrong during the procedure. That is why I trust that we will find a way to keep Shadow's blood pressure at a steady rate. I know we can.

January 10; 5:18 PM

The holidays have come and gone but they were not merry. The feared has happened and we have lost a few here at the institute but they were not deaths. Some families and even workers left because of Shadow's recent attack on Christmas day. All seemed to be going well that morning until word got out that Shadow had transformed and escape. Our security was no use, they could not stop Shadow from overpowering them as he went on his rampage. Much more damage was suffered this time but my Maria suffered the most. We had taken cover in my quarters when Shadow came in destroying nearly all of it. I protected Maria the best that I could be the fear that was in her eyes when she looked at Shadow is something I will never forget. He glanced at us before moving on to the next rooms and then Maria fainted.

Eventually we were able to gain control over Shadow again and he is still in his capsule. Maria on the other hand is still in the hospital ward recovering from the shock. Then there was a conversation I had with Shadow a few days afterwards while he was in his capsule. It was my daily check up on his life status when he began to talk to me. He just started to pour out his feelings on how he felt both times he transformed. He told me that he was unhappy and there was much pain and anger within him that he disliked very much. I said very little and focused on his words.

He tells me that the only reason he transformed was that some of my colleagues would get on his nerves and he wished that they would treat him more fairly. I assured Shadow that they would be either fired or relocated to another section. Shadow knew that he could trust me. Just for his reference I explained to him about his powers and how with each transformation they would slowly rise. Then eventually when they were at his peak he would change back into his original for perhaps for good. Shadow understood this but when I brought up Maria Shadow showed great emotion for the first time. He cried. Shadow went into detail of how much guilt he had once he was back into his capsule. I found out that he cherished Maria as much or even more than I did. He also made a promise to Maria and I quote:

"If I ever changed into that hideous monster again I would do whatever I can with my powers to prevent myself from becoming that monster… for good."

He was in a state of grief and I left him alone. I knew Shadow sincerely meant what he said and that I could trust him to keep his promise… but only time will tell.

Sonic flipped through some more pages to see if there were any more entries but that appeared to be the last of them. Silently he closed the book and set it back onto the table. Amy still continued to cry into the handkerchief while Sonic reflected on what he had just read. There was absolutely no way of knowing that Shadow wanted to die and even though he didn't know exactly where the serpent and the crow came from, Sonic had a feeling that they were Shadow's doing. He took Amy in his arms and began to calm her down. She, in reply, moved closer to Sonic and began to calm down.

"Was it the right thing to do Sonic?" she asked her voice sounding broken.

"I… I don't know." Sonic replied quietly. "But if it was to save us all… then maybe it was."

Some time had gone by and Amy quietly fell asleep. Sonic sat her in his lap and sat back. He may not have been friends with Shadow for so long but one thing he hated was seeing someone losing their life for freedom. A tear rolled down his cheek.


	20. My Final Crimson Vision

Crimson Vision

Chapter 20: My Final Crimson Vision

Created, lived, died.

I stood alone in darkness.

I lost everything I had and then lost myself.

I was alone in darkness.

My life was a vapor in the balance of time yet my actions left marks that would scar for life.

I lived alone in darkness.

I knew everyone and they will not forget me.

She was the light that brightened the darkness.

Her heart beats within me.

She was the one that never gave up.

Her soul inspires me.

She was the one that I cared for deeply.

Her life was everything to me.

I'll never forget her.

He was the one who strengthened me.

His courage I'll remember.

He was the one who pushed me.

His heart I'll remember.

He was the enemy that became my friend.

His bravery I'll remember.

He is the one I'll always be thankful for.

He'll always be my true friend.

I have lost my power.

I have lost my life.

But somewhere out there on the horizon.

Is a fear that I will vanish.

And everyone will have forgotten me.

But I cannot be forgotten.

I don't want to be forgotten.

But perhaps that's just how life is.

And this truly is my final crimson vision.

__

And that's it my reading friends. That's the end of 'Crimson Vision' whether you like it or not. I look forward to your comments on what you liked what you don't like and other stuff like that. If you didn't like how it ended then what can I say? That's just the way the cookie crumbled and how I decided to end this fic and I can't say anymore about it. But other than that I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it as well. I might come out with a sequel to it or not but the way I see it is that some stories are just fine the way they are… or are they?


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